It must be ten years ago that I first heard about Fairtrade. I remember very distinctly the moment because I was eating an organic banana for lunch, when a colleague pointed out to me that if I really did want to make a difference, I would do better to buy Fairtrade bananas rather than organic ones.

The Fairtrade Foundation works to tip the balance of trade in favour of poor producers. If you doubt the necessity of such an organisation, remember that a third of humanity — some two billion people – survives on less than $2 a day.

Employers who want to help marginalised farmers and workers can make a very real difference by working with the Fairtrade Foundation.

Fairtrade is an international system of standards for producers, and terms of trade for their goods, that ensures farmers and workers in some of the poorest countries in the world are adequately protected and can build a more sustainable future.

I remember the days when it was a struggle to find one or two Fairtrade goods in the supermarket but today you can buy everything from cakes and cookies to coffee and flowers and, more recently, wine.

There are Fairtrade wineries in South Africa, Chile and Argentina and, in 2007, sales of Fairtrade wines topped £20m.

Ehrmanns — the UK’s leading wholesaler of Fairtrade wines — predicts that by 2012, Fairtrade wines will have three per cent of the market share.

Stellar Organics is an accredited Fairtrade winery in South Africa that has made a significant difference to the lives of the people that work there.

The Stellar Fairtrade Workers Trust grew from a working committee established to allocate public and government donations received after the Kranskop Bridge disaster, a truck accident that claimed the lives of 53 people in 1987.

The trust serves as a forum for workers to identify their needs and manages the income derived from Fairtrade sales as well as the projects in hand.

To date, Fairtrade income has paid for fencing for workers’ houses. Current projects are the purchase of shares in Stellar Winery to a total shareholding of 26% as well as the purchase of a farm next to the cellar, which will be owned and managed by the workers.

Maria Malan, who works at Stellar, is clear about the benefits of Fairtrade. “After Stellar Organics became a Fairtrade accredited farm, the possibilities were there to improve our lifestyles and security. The standards of everybody on the farm changed. Our houses are more than 90 per cent electrified and we have the necessary sanitary systems. In the past, before linking with Fairtrade, all the money went to the owner of the farm. However, nowadays the workers also share in the profits of the farm.”

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from February 23 to March 8 and it is an excellent opportunity to make a very real difference to the lives of millions of people. It is not as though you are being asked to run 26 miles in fancy dress or stand in the freezing cold, rattling a tin.

All you need to do is buy a bottle — or a case — of Fairtrade wine and drink it.

Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.