At the end of 2025, devastating cyclones hit Southeast Asia, causing flooding and mudslides which impacted millions, including Fairtrade farmers in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, growing crops such as tea, coffee, coconut, and herbs & spices. In response, Fairtrade sprang into action. To support short term relief, Fairtrade staff connected farmers to existing government relief efforts and partnered with our corporate partners, including Grace Farms Tea and Coffee, to ensure all immediate needs were met.

While Fairtrade farmers were able to access necessary resources in the short term, many farmers had their crops damaged, farms flooded, and their livelihoods destroyed. To support long term recovery, Fairtrade Network of Asia and Pacific Producers (NAPP) mobilized their regional Climate Disaster Relief and Resilience Fund, with funding support from Fairtrade America. Local staff conducted an analysis of the damage across impacted Fairtrade farms, utilizing our deep connection with Fairtrade farmers and workers in the affected region. Through this assessment, Fairtrade was able to identify critical needs and worked directly with farmers to design targeted initiatives to work alongside farmers to rebuild their livelihoods. Through the Fund, 22 Fairtrade farmer cooperatives received direct financial and logistical support to aid recovery from the cyclones.

In Indonesia, Fairtrade provided a grant to the KSU Gayo Antara coffee cooperative. As a result of the cyclone, their farmland was flooded, affecting 65% of coffee plots and destroying production. With funding granted by Fairtrade, the cooperative purchased and distributed 15,600 coffee seedlings for the 72 farmers within their cooperative that experienced flooding. This allowed farmers to replace damaged trees and return to the coffee production their livelihoods depend on.

Another coffee cooperative in Indonesia, KSU Rahmat Kinara, lost or damaged many of their agricultural tools in the flooding and landslides caused by the cyclone. A portion of their grant funds went towards purchasing and distributing new agricultural tools to farmers who lost theirs in the natural disaster. Beyond their personal needs, this cooperative also saw damage to their community infrastructure that provided access to clean drinking water. The cooperative utilized some of the grant funds to support the purchase of materials to lay new pipes to clear access to spring-sources of drinking water, providing critical access to clean water in their community. 

Similar to KSU Rahmat Kinara, one cooperative in Sri Lanka utilized their funds to address critical housing needs for their cooperative members. The Fairtrade spice cooperative known as Dedigama Maha Perakum Export Agriculture Development Society removed fallen trees and repaired roofs for multiple farmers whose houses were damaged by the cyclone. For farmers whose houses were not salvageable, funds were used for temporary housing in the interim, as well as to construct new homes with concrete walls that will be more resilient to future extreme weather events. 

As the impacts of climate change continue to grow and reverberate around the world, natural disasters like this will continue to put pressure on vulnerable farming communities. Fairtrade’s model emphasizes the necessity for farming cooperatives to receive fair prices so that they can build resilience into their everyday lives, and be prepared to respond in extreme circumstances. When those needs are not met, Fairtrade is able to mobilize their regional Climate Disaster Relief and Resilience Funds, rapidly deploying critical resources to support long-term recovery. 

Fairtrade will continue to support the cooperatives impacted by the cyclone, as well as many others in the impacted region to lead their own recovery and rebuilding efforts, both by providing resources and advocating for a more sustainable approach to ingredient sourcing in the industry as a whole.