No one wants any killing. People want a pretty easy life, I think! When we have comfort, we seek new challenges. However, it is hard for most to push ourselves out of the ‘comfort zone’. We want all to be international partners and friends to live in one world peacefully, so why have so many politicians come out and said the world is at the most unstable it has been since even World War One.
So, what is going on with the world now?
- Sadly, Russia has been attacking Ukraine since 2014, which escalated in early 2022.
- Hamas has killed people and took a few hundred hostages from Israel.
- The most recent is, the Houthi pirates attacking random ships in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen in retaliation of Israel's self-defence!
Sustainable, fair trade and other goods are so important, but how is it being affected at this moment?
Sadly, quite a lot! There are MANY delays with containers delivering a lot of our stock that we have sold out on our website. And I wish to offer an apology as we in the UK (Including me) are used to buying items and understandably, expecting them quickly and without any hard work. All due the efficiencies of capitalism.
Why are there these delays?
How can a small area such as the Red Sea affect trade so much and will it impact the price of interior goods? It is the ideal route for containers and ships crossing the East into the West, however due to the terrible events since October. Sensibly people do not risk their lives, so they have decided to sail down the only other trade route to the is the West is: going around the continent of Africa. So containers need to go down to the Cape of Good Hope around South Africa and go up North on the West coast of Africa. Of course, this is bringing huge delays for many industries!
I have always wanted to go to the Red Sea to lie in the salt water to relax, a detox from life – sadly I won’t be able to do this for a while! It is not so relaxing now as Houthis are targeting the Western Way of life, so they are attacking ships from the Western World or Israel. They see the attack on the lands of Palestine as very unjust.
Palestine and Fair Trade
Palestine do produce fair trade products such as honey and olive oil, I learnt about this at a fair in Exeter where a group of Palestine people were promoting these goods. Sadly, I can say those people producing those fantastic goods have been deeply affected and it is seems they will almost have to start from square one again after this terrible attack (Luckily the demand is still out there from many place, for example Zaytoun).
How important is the Red Sea to Global Trade?
Oh, how would I have guessed that 12% of all products which are on these container ships go through this channel?! The world of trade is important in the Red Sea, it is channel between Asia and the Western world. In this area people want to take advantage of the riches that can be got. This is where political fate can be seen so people can tell their message such as Houthi.
Moreover, the other political and religious conflicts in various regions have further exacerbated the situation, impacting the production and distribution of essential products like oil and gas from our own country, not to import them. As a result, there is a growing need for investment in green energy and sustainable solutions to mitigate these challenges.
Fair trade, ethical and sustainable products are trying to try to help the world but we are being stopped in our tracks. We are seen the decrease of products which are coming from Asia to the UK. As quoted by Channel 4 news in 2022 we had 500, 000 container ships going through the region, the number of ships going through the area has dropped to 200,000 ships, a decrease of 300,000 ships! A drop of over 50%!
In the west we are all taking advantage of the trade routes (and fantastic products) because globalisation has happened and we are living now in the international global markets. However, we cannot take full advantage of the supply of stock which has changed for the worse, which started from the attack on Israel by Hamas.
Voyage Fair Trade is seeing expected dates for when our new products should be delivered, not being met as these organisations are having difficulty getting to us. Travel times are getting longer to get the products, with increasing delays. I hope we can still get the great, popular Hand Chair in by the end of February, but it looks like March now. I know one of our supplier’s should be get their next delivery in on 18th March 2024, or maybe another delay is around the corner, no one knows unfortnately.
We all have apart to play in this world and peace needs to be kept so we all can enjoy and have the best in the life.
