Sandfield Farms

Sandfields Farms supply salad onions and radish for the UK retail market for 12 months of the year. From April to October demand is met by the UK based farm, however, from late October through to April the farm is unable to grow the crop in the UK and, as a result produce is imported from Mexico and Egypt. In order to reduce the carbon foot print involved in air freight and align with the supermarkets’ strategy of shortening the supply chain and buying direct from growers, the project aims to establish a source of quality produce in Senegal, building on a successful pilot project that began in June 2011.

The project has brought into production a partnership between the newly created company, West Africa Farms and pro-active rural community and youth leaders. Developing this land will enable the farm to grow and supply customers all year round and to create an income flow to the region and opportunities for the local community. In addition to this, the project hopes to work with the Fairtrade Organization to develop a fairtrade standard for salad onions and subsequently obtain fairtrade certification for the salad onions.