Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
developed countries' market demands for continuous supply of quality goods no doubt leave
the small producer in developing countries with few alternatives. Raynolds (2004) proposes
the integration of these small-scale peasant producers into the Fair Trade network, and sees
possibilities at the global level for greater convergence between the organic and the Fair Trade
movements. In addition to Fair Trade links between producers in the developing world and
consumers in the developed world, Jaffee
et
al
. (2004) describe recent cases built on Fair Trade
principles that operate exclusively between developing countries or exclusively between devel-
oped countries.
Initiaties defining and addressing social justice in the organic sector
Many in the organic sector are disappointed with what may be seen as the reduction of the
movement's core values into technical packages of practices and prescriptions as to how to
farm without chemicals. Stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds concerned with social
justice in organic and sustainable agriculture convened at the IFOAM Conference in Victoria,
Canada, in August 2002 to address key social justice issues and strategise on moving ahead
with a social agenda. Through the Victoria meeting, a social justice survey was developed and
disbursed with the intention of mapping the landscape of social justice within sustainable
agriculture, seek out opportunities for collaboration and strengthen social justice in sustaina-
ble agriculture (Mattson
et
al
. 2003). Some of the themes addressed in the survey were:
• general information social accountability;
• social standards and standard setting;
• using standards and verification of standards;
• formal and informal verification systems;
• use of Internal Control Systems;
• formal certification systems;
• social certification and organic certification systems;
• trading relationships;
• trade unions and workers associations;
• capacity building, market development and advocacy;
• research; and
• building a social justice community.
While the survey was ambitious, the response was disappointing with only 38 respondents.
However, the social justice forum continued to seek innovative means to network internation-
ally and address social justice at a second meeting in Bangkok in November 2003 (Mattson
et
al
. 2003). The Bangkok meeting revealed several gaps in organic and sustainable agriculture
standards, among which were the following:
• mechanisms needed for implementation of social justice standards
• no means for farmer price-setting outside market forces
• no fair trade mechanisms in developed countries
• limited capacity among farmers to set standards
• no bottom-up strategies in place for evolving standards
• no definition of child labour within the reality of the farmers
• lack of food security mechanisms for small farmers
• lack of standards for buyers - community/rights and responsibilities/pricing
• lack of recognition for good practices among family/traditional farmers
• assessing whether standards undercut traditional market models
• no discussion of wild harvest products
