The Future of Fairtrade Part #3 - Reaching the Poorest of the Poor

I met Malcolm Bruce MP recently, chairman of the International Development Committee. He is a supporter of Fair Trade but also challenged us: how do we reach the poorest of the poor?

Whilst the FAIRTRADE Mark is a important guarantee for consumers in the West and provides a huge contribution to development, it also requires a level of organisation & consistency that excludes many of the poorest people on the planet. Moreover many product categories such as stationery & jewellery defy the product-standard approach that the FAIRTRADE Mark currently requires.

The FAIRTRADE Mark is by far the most recognised symbol of the movement. But many organisations involved are seeking to go beyond this set of minimum standards. For example:

- Fair Trade pioneers like People Tree are so important as they go beyond the FAIRTRADE Mark and implement additional steps throughout their supply chain to ensure a broader definition of what it means to be Fair Trade.
- Fairgift takes a similar approach in homeware and are working hard to increase the range of products from poorer communities, e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa by provide design & production advice on products.
- Traidcraft Exchange does this on an event bigger scale: working directly with organisations that are currently too small to qualify for the FAIRTRADE Mark - such as small-scale tea producers in India.
- Divine Chocolate - provides a different model as it works closely with one large scale co-operative in Ghana that co-owns the UK-based company.

The future of Fair Trade must be to provide a guarantee to consumers in the UK that is as reliable as the FAIRTRADE Mark and at the same time accessible to producers in some of the poorest communities in the world that are unable to organise themselves into a product-standard approach. The international body IFAT is currently consulting on this very issue.

What are your thoughts?

The Future of Fairtrade Part #2: Producer-Consumer Connections

Fairtrade has the biggest impact when producers and consumers connect.

• When someone in a relatively wealthy country like the UK realises the difference their purchase makes to the lives of producers in some of the poorest communities in the world, this is the life-affirming experience that turns many people into loyal Fairtrade purchasers or campaigners.

• And livelihoods & supply chains are transformed when producers in those marginalised communities are empowered with the necessary knowledge, investment and market access to sell their products to the relatively wealthy consumers elsewhere in the world.

This connection is how the Fair Trade movement started in the 1970s. Ordinary people in the UK & other countries responding to the news of workers conditions in countries like Sri Lanka and demanding a different approach to trade via campaigns & organisations such as Oxfam, Christian Aid and the World Development Movement

The Future of Fairtrade Part #1: Scale

Fairtrade is tiny: despite recognition levels of over 70% and sales of £500million per year, it is just a small fraction of total retail spend in the UK.

Although it benefits 7 million farmers/producers and immediate family members - this number is also tiny in comparison to the 2billion people in the world living on less than $2 per day. Moreover, the UN estimates that the recent hike in food & fuel prices has pushed an additional 100 million people globally into extreme poverty.

In order for Fairtrade to have a real impact in tackling global poverty it must grow rapidly by several thousand percent. Or the movement must have an impact that reaches out far beyond just selling products that are Fairtrade certified.

One of the most pioneering organisations that seeks to do both these things is Traidcraft Exchange. For example, they have set up a three year project to help develop sales of Fairtrade within India. With a rapidly growing middle class, this could offer a huge opportunity to poor producers in India. Meanwhile in Kenya, they have a long-term project underway to protect and improve the livelihoods of thousands of small-scale dairy farmers and informal milk traders.

Only by initiatives such as these will Fairtrade reach the scale required in order to win the life-or-death global fight against poverty.