A fair trade future?

In response to Richard D. North’s criticism of fair trade, Rachel Woods from the Fairtrade Foundation explains why buying fair trade makes a difference

Fairtrade has seen phenomenal growth in the UK and around the world. Shoppers, retailers, food and drink brands, churches and school children alike have taken it to their hearts and supported it with their wallets.

Sales of Fairtrade products in the UK reached nearly half a billion pounds last year. As well as old favourites like bananas, tea and coffee, the Fairtrade mark can be found on more than 3000 different products, from sugar, nuts and spices to wine, flowers and cotton products.

Seven million farmers and their families now benefit from the system. They get a fair price for their crop, and a social premium that allows them to invest in their businesses and their communities.

A drop in the ocean?

Fairtrade is growing rapidly, however it's still only a small beginning in the face of the scale of global poverty. There are still two billion people, that's one third of the population of the globe, who work hard but struggle to survive on less than $2 per day.

There are those who say that despite its ongoing growth (sales are doubling every two years) Fairtrade is insignificant next to the scale of conventional trade and global poverty. That it's not worth the bother.

Does that mean that seven million lives are insignificant? And there's no hope for those two billion people living in poverty? The growing popularity of Fairtrade prove that millions of people in the UK think not.

If we can capture that growing consumer appetite for ethical and Fairtrade products, millions more people across the world could be reached.

Free trade in focus

Right wing thinkers claim that Fairtrade is a distraction from free trade, the conventional way of doing business, which they believe is the best way to bring countries out of poverty.

Gerardo Arias Camacho, a Fairtrade coffee farmer from Costa Rica, does not agree: "We've been working within the 'free market' for almost two hundred years. The rules of this system have brought only poverty and a lack of equality to my country and others in Latin America."

"By comparison, we've been working with Fairtrade for 18 years and I see the great difference that it has made every day."

Gerarado’s co-operative is a member of Coocafe, Coffee co-operative that represents 3500 farmers, including 256 women, and indirectly benefits 15,000 people through the the fairtrade premium which is used for educational and social programmes.

Gerarado explains; “The premium helps the poorest families to send their children to school. In my co-op we have 26 students in high school and nine at university. So these kids will have a better future and will be able to get good jobs.”

Sustainable farming

Premium money also goes towards environmental programmes like teaching small coffee farmers how to make their own organic fertiliser and not to use chemicals. Small coffee farmers are also taught how to work in a sustainable way that is friendly towards the local environment and wildlife.

“We also get more money directly in our pockets from the coffee we sell through Fairtrade terms, which allows us to stay on our farms and to get enough money to cover our expenses and keep our families. Even though we only sell 30 per cent of our coffee through Fairtrade terms, it makes a big difference,” says Gerardo.

Free trade between partners of similar economic strength and power is one thing – it certainly has the potential to drive economic growth. But Gerardo's experience is common to many farmers and producers living in poor countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Conventional trade systems favour rich countries and big players, and does not hold up in the real world of extreme global inequality.

Fair trade, not aid

"Africa does not need aid", states Julius Ethang'atha, a tea producer from Kenya, "we need to participate in a fairer trading system. Teach us how to fish - do not just give us the fish."

Through Fairtrade, farmers and producers have the opportunity to trade with international markets, gain confidence and skills, and become independent business people. The security that comes with stable prices enables forward planning to take place, while the Fairtrade premium provides an investment stream to put plans into action.

Fairtrade's vision of using trade as a tool for development and sustainable livelihoods is backed by charities like Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Christian Aid and Oxfam, who have decades of practical experience of fighting poverty.

A step in the right direction

The benefits of Fairtrade spread beyond the farmers themselves. Entire communities benefit from new roads, environmental projects, schools and healthcare paid for by the Fairtrade premium.

The guaranteed minimum price that farmers receive has a knock-on effect in the local area, too. Private companies have to compete with the Fairtrade price, so in many cases farmers report that prices improve for everyone.

Fairtrade does not claim to have all the answers, but it's a start – a step in the right direction. A step towards a future where trade no longer benefits only the richest and most powerful, and where a third of humanity no longer live in poverty.

Read more from Fairtrade farmers on the Fairtrade Foundation website.