Final Draft

Adam Southgate
October 14, 2009
Environmental Science

Did you know that a good amount of the food and items that we use on a daily basis are grown or made by people that are working within third world countries, and aren’t paid fair wages? Fair-trade is a movement that aims to help such people, producers in developing countries. This helps restore their human rights, which I shall touch on later throughout my paper. When you buy something that is Fair-Trade Certified, the slightly increased price is covering the cost of production of the item, as well as a living wage for the producer that covers their food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care.

Fair-trade provides benefits to farmers, workers, consumers and the environment.
About 1.5 million workers and farmers in 58 developing countries within Africa, Asia, and Latin America benefit from Fair-trade . Some of these benefits include an improved role in the trade of their produce, better access to low or no-interest loans, assistance for building infrastructure to improve production, communications systems, and better health care and education. The Fair-trade system benefits consumers by having the opportunity to buy things with good principles, feeling good about the fact they get to play their part in addressing global trade inequities and getting high quality products in exchange.



Fair-trade rewards and encourages farming and production practices that are environmentally sustainable, such as integrated farm management systems, which minimize pollutants, pesticides and herbicides, organic agriculture techniques, and banning harmful pesticides by helping the producers by selling items that were the product of these practices.

The first Fair-trade label, Max Havelaar, was launched in 1988 in the Netherlands, their first product being coffee from Mexico. It was called Max Havelaar, after a fictional Dutch character who opposed the exploitation of coffee pickers in Dutch colonies. The Max Havelaar initiative was replicated in several other markets across Europe and North America during the early 90’s: Max Havelaar (in Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and France), Transfair (in Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Italy, the United States, Canada and Japan), Fair-trade Mark in the UK and Ireland, Rättvisemärkt in Sweden, and Reilu Kauppa in Finland. In 1997, Fair-trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) was established in Bonn, Germany to unite the labeling initiatives under one umbrella and harmonize worldwide standards and certification.

The most common items sold through fair trade are Coffee, Tea, Herbs, Cocoa, Chocolate, Fresh Fruit, Sugar, Rice, and Vanilla . Fairtrade.net notes why there are not more types of things sold fair-trade, “It takes a great deal of time and money to develop Fair-trade Standards to ensure that new Fair-trade Products really will benefit producers. The initial focus of Fair-trade was on agricultural commodities, such as coffee and tea, which have the most widespread impact on the livelihoods of small producers and workers in the developing world. Since then, the scope of Fair-trade is continuously being extended to other agricultural products and some manufactured products such as sports balls.”

The graph below helps explains how Fair Trade is different then regular supply chains. They say they like to stay away from middle-mans and work straight through a cooperative company that helps out fair trade distributors. In other words, there are a lot less unnecessary, time-consuming people to go through to get your goods.


They also note on what the price of Fair-trade items goes to, “Every time you buy a certified Fair-trade product, the producer organization or plantation receives the Fair-trade price (where it exists) and an additional social premium to invest in social, environmental and business development. However, it is important to note that these payments are not linked to the retail price of the final finished product.”
Fair-trade has been getting increasingly better through the years and is talked about on fair-trade.net, “There are now 746 Fair-trade certified producer organizations in 58 producing countries, representing over 1 million farmers and workers. With their families and dependents, FLO estimates that 5 million people directly benefit from Fair-trade…In some national markets Fair-trade accounts for between 20-50% of market share in certain products.”
Fair-trade certified items can only be sold by a Fair-trade company, as touched on by FLO, “The FAIRTRADE Mark must always be used and reproduced correctly. Misleading use of the Mark harms the integrity of the system and its stakeholders... Confusing or misleading use of the Mark is prohibited… ANY use of the mark (by licensees, producers, traders or third parties) on products or for promotional purposes requires prior written approval from FLO or a Fair-trade Labeling Initiative.
To conclude, Fair-trade certified foods have no downsides other then a slightly higher price. If thought is put into what you buy, then you should have no problem in helping producers in third world countries get a better earning and be able to supply for themselves.

Green America, “Fair Trade: Economic action to create a just global economy for farmers and artisans.” 2004. Accessed 15 September 2009.
http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/fairtrade/

Reykia Fick, “Global Fair-trade sales increase by 22%” 4 June 2009. Fairtrade labeling Organizations International (FLO).
http://www.fairtrade.net/single_view1.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=105&tx_ttnews[backPid]=361&cHash=1082e96b5e

“Fairtrade labeling Organizations International (FLO)” 1 November 2009. Fairtrade labeling Organizations International (FLO).
http://www.fairtrade.net/home.html?&L=title&scale=0