PAN UK is all about helping to eliminate the dangers of nasty toxic pesticides, promoting safer alternatives, the production of healthy food and sustainable farming. This strongly reflects Frugi’s brand values as Frugi designs and sells organic cotton clothing for babies and children, placing the importance of organically produced, ethically sourced cotton at the very heart of the business.

Recently, Frugi’s donations have been used to buy 5 neem mills for grinding seeds from neem trees and turning them into a fantastic neem-oil natural pesticide used in the cotton fields.

Keith Tyrell, head of PAN UK, has just returned from a week in Benin where he visited Lohouelohouedji and Banikoara, two villages that have benefited from the neem mills Frugi funded.

After meeting farmers in both villages Mr Tyrell reported how the mills have changed their lives. The women in particular were really positive about the new neem mills which have significantly reduced their workload. Grinding neem is traditionally a woman’s role, while the men do the spraying. Without a machine, the neem grinding process is hard work and time consuming, and the women would return home after a day in the fields and begin grinding – it was exhausting.

Tchidi Adjoua, the secretary of the women’s organisation in Lohouelohouedji, said: “When the mill was not there I was always tired. I would work all day helping my husband and cook when I got home. Then I had to grind the neem because my husband needed it to protect our crops the next day. Now it is much easier – we also use the mill to grind cereals for our food so I am not so tired”

With the new neem mills in place, the villages are benefitting as a whole community. The mills are also used to grind maize and even shea nuts to make shea butter. This brings in extra income. In Banikoara, for example, people from other villages pay to use the mill and the village has set up a bank account to pay for maintenance of the mill and other communal benefits. They are saving up to buy some cattle so they can plough their fields – at the moment all the work is done by hand.

Cost savings are being made at an individual level too. Farmers no longer need to pay for outside help creating the neem seed oil – before the mills, this was often a necessity, as one of the farmers in Banikoara said: “we had to hire other people to collect and grind the neem because we didn’t have time ourselves – this hurt because we are poor, but we had to do it to keep the insects away. Now we grind quickly and it is easy.”

Frugi and their customers are really proud that donations can have such an amazing impact on people’s lives. As Lucy Jewson, Frugi’s co-founder says, “1% For The Planet is such a great thing to be involved with – we’re committed to giving 1% of our turnover (whether we make a profit or not) to the two charities we support, and it makes a real difference. Imagine if every company in the UK did that….it would be amazing!!!”

You can discover more about the charities Frugi supports at www.welovefrugi.com/planet-frugi

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