COFFEE growers from Africa and South America will visit the region to talk about the importance of Fairtrade.

Robert Ejiku, a 32-year-old manager of a growers group in Uganda, will be joined by grower Bartolome Ramirez Lucero, from Peru, at the event in Durham City. The event is the only North-East leg of a national roadshow by Cafedirect, the organisation set up to promote fair trade.

The roadshow takes place in the Joachim Room, at Durham University's College of St Hild and St Bede, from 11am to 4pm, on Thursday, March 8. The two growers will talk about what Cafedirect means to the growers and how the premiums are spent.

The following day, Cafedirect's chief executive Clive Gardener will be at County Hall to mark Fairtrade fortnight by signing Durham's application to become a Fairtrade city