LIBERATION is a partnership of small-scale farmers from around the world, alternative trading organisations in the UK, charities and consumers who love high quality, Fairtrade foods.
 
 
Liberation was established by the two pioneers of Fairtrade, Twin and Equal Exchange. With the support of Comic Relief, The Hunter Foundation and others, Liberation Foods was established as a Community Interest Company (CIC). Liberation's "community of interest" is smallholder farmers and gatherers in Africa, Asia and Latin America and consumers in the UK and around the world.The largest stake in Liberation (42%) is owned by a co-operative of eleven farmers' groups from eight countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Farmers receive a fair price for their produce, have seats on the board of the company and participate in any profits it makes. Malawi. The Mchinji Area Smallholder Farmers' Association (MASFA) has seen 2,700 small-scale tobacco farmers in Malawi, who had seen demand for their crops plummet, diversify and become peanut exporters.
 
In the 1960's and 1070's the vast majority of peanuts exported in the world came from Africa but the USA, Argentina and China then took over the reins. Until Twin, which went onto set up Liberation initiated the Fairtrade peanut trade in 2005, peanuts were no longer exported from Malawi. Now smallholder farmers there are proud to have grown and sold the world's first Fairtrade peanuts to Liberation.
 
Over the past two years more than $43,000 has been received in Fairtrade premium. Some of the Fairtrade premium has been spent on establishing a guardian shelter for the loved ones of patients at Mchinji hospital. Sainsbury's Fair Development Fund is contributing processing facilities such as a shelling machine to these farmers which will make a big difference to their lives, as shelling peanuts by hand is laborious work.