The Fair Trade movement works to ensure that people are adequately compensated for the work that they do. It’s a growing, international movement dedicated to securing a fair deal for producers in economically impoverished countries. A ‘fair deal’ includes paying workers a fair price for the goods they produce—a price that covers the cost of production and guarantees a living income. It also involves programs that can provide lasting stability such as long-term contracts for profits that the producers can bank on, and business training that can help increase sales and speed organization-growth. (Oxfam: Make Trade Fair). Fair Trade is concerned with economic opportunity as well as economic justice, and seeks out producers that have been historically over-looked by bottom-line developers.
A Little History on a Big Idea
The Fair Trade movement originated in Europe over forty years ago. The Fair Trade mission is to create sustainable incomes for poor and disadvantaged producers by:
- providing a living wage
- maintaining stable, long-term trade agreements
- improving working conditions through education, campaigning and creating access to outside markets.
Today, the majority of low-income producers are workers in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, free trade agreements such as NAFTA, APEC, and WTO have ignored opportunities to protect workers and the environment while creating industrial opportunities in these developing regions. In India, for example, millions of people have been employed as piece-work garment workers for far-below minimum wage. This practice is tolerated, since the market for workers’ traditional crafts has been all but eliminated, and their options for creating income grow increasingly limited.
The Fair Trade movement believes that workers should be paid a living wage. It has enjoyed great success in Europe, where fair trade goods are available in over 2,700 world stores and 43,000 supermarkets. Additionally, there are four multi-national Fair Trade organizations that work together to advocate for the Fair Trade movement: IFAT, EFTA, NEWS! and FLO International. In 2001, the European Fair Trade Association surveyed eighteen countries and found that they work with over one hundred importing organizations. The four largest of these organizations have an annual turnover of over ten million a year (12.3 million dollars), and the total net retail value is estimated to be over ninety two million a year (European Fair Trade Association).
Fair Trade values are making their way to the US as American consumers become increasingly concerned about the origin of the products they buy, and aware of the environmental and social footprints of their purchases. This Fair Trade movement is growing along the same grassroots lines as the Organics industry, which began as a fringe movement but is now global—and worth twenty-three billion dollars (2002, Organic Monitor). In 2000, Fair Trade sales in North America totaled one hundred million dollars. This figure reached one hundred and eighty million dollars within two years, with the majority of revenues coming from agricultural products: coffee, tea, chocolate, and fruit. On its own, the Fair Trade handicrafts market generated 13.8 million dollars in 2002. Fair Trade as a movement is gathering momentum, and we’re expecting exponential growth as education and awareness spread.
World of Good Fair Trade Sourcing Criteria
- Pay a fair wage in the local context to the artisan that crafted the product. World of Good: Development Organization, our sister non-profit, has created a revolutionary Fair Trade Wage Tool that is available online at Fair Trage Calculator.
- Purchase from cooperatives, non-profit organizations or directly from the artisans whenever possible. If using an intermediary, ensure that a fair portion goes back to the artisan.
- Provide employment without discrimination, and strive to create employment opportunities for women and the most disadvantaged communities.
- Ensure that all artisans have access to a safe and clean work environment, whether it is a workshop, a community meeting space, or their own homes.
- Guarantee that no child labor is used in production—unless the entire family is involved in the craft and the children are still attending school.
