Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Small-scale family farms produce over 70 per cent of the world's coffee
in 85 countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa and falling coffee
prices have destabilized rural livelihoods, prompting many NGOs to
advocate 'fair trade' as a more sustainable alternative. Fair trade,
which developed as part of the 1960s movement for 'trade not aid', is
defined as a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and
respect, that seeks: greater equity in international trade; guarantees
producers a 'fair' price for their products above world market price and
stable supply relationships; access to credit; and a social premium for
community development projects. In return grower co-operatives must
be democratically organized, use the social premium for the benefit of
its members, and commit to improving environmental conditions
(Raynolds et al., 2007).
The popularity of fair trade food products like coffee, bananas and
chocolate has grown markedly since the 1990s, and in 1997 attempts to
standardize the movement internationally were undertaken by the
Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO). In 2006, FLO was working with
6,569 Fair Trade Certified Producer Organizations and over 1.4 million
farmers and workers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Although many
commentators argue that fair trade should be viewed as a resistance to
the hegemony of an unequal global trading system, others state that as
fair trade products only account for a small percentage of global trade,
they fail significantly to challenge structural inequalities. There are also
concerns that the recent mainstreaming of fair trade products by super-
markets signifies a 'selling out' by fair trade organizations to corporate
business as they may lose sight of their political principles and commit-
ments to challenging unfair global relationships (Goodman, 2004).
Despite much scepticism over the corporate exploitation of the fair trade
label, the movement has continued to gain popularity in the UK and is
seen by many as a better alternative to free trade and aid.
155
key
points
•
Trade and aid are important tools for redistributing wealth between
the global North and South, but they have been criticized for exacer-
bating poverty and dependent development.
•
Overseas development aid is decreasing in real terms, and there are
concerns over the ineffectiveness of aid flows since the 1970s due to
issues relating to conditionality, misappropriation and fragmentation.
