Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fair trade and gender inequality
A key facet of fair trade's social agenda focuses on promoting gender equity and bolster-
ing the incomes of marginalized women workers and producers. Fair trade's gender sen-
sitivity was established in the movement's inception in the predominantly female
handicraft sector. As fair trade extended into agriculture, gender concerns were institu-
tionalized into small-farmer and hired-labor standards. Given women's extensive engage-
ment in African smallholder and estate farming sectors, 9 fair trade's growth in this region
has opened up new possibilities for signi
fi
cantly improving the situation of women
involved in agriculture.
Fair trade standards in the small-farm sector address gender concerns directly by
requiring that certi
ed producer organizations follow anti-discrimination policies and
that programs related to recruitment, sta
fi
ng and leadership work to improve the posi-
tion of underrepresented groups, including women. In Africa, as elsewhere in the world,
women have historically been excluded from important producer organizations and pro-
grams. This exclusion has meant that female farmers in Africa have signi
cantly less
access than their male counterparts to agricultural training, credit and other critical
resources (FAO, 2005). By fostering non-discriminatory organizations and bolstering
female organizational engagement, fair trade promotes women's independent access to
key production inputs and to the equal rights and respect often denied them.
The Kuapa Kokoo Cocoa Cooperative in Ghana, for example, has addressed issues of
gender equity on a number of fronts. Currently 30 percent of Kuapa Kokoo members are
women and their representation continues to rise. Female cocoa producers in the region
have gained recognition and respect as well as access to trade information and production
credit. In fact women now serve in all cooperative leadership levels and are at least as likely
as male members to represent Kuapa Kokoo in international forums (Ti
fi
en et al., 2004).
However, despite the increase of female membership within African fair trade cocoa
cooperatives, the promotion of gender equity has been less successful within producer
organizations operating in other export sectors such as co
ff
ff
ee, where male dominance has
been more
rmly entrenched (Tallontire, 2000).
Even where African women are not members of small-farmer cooperatives, they may
bene
fi
t from fair trade policies and programs. Fair trade's favorable price guarantees are
intended to provide income security to entire families, while the fair trade social premium
is designed to support a variety of
fi
social programs bene
fi
ting entire communities.
Returning to the case of Kuapa Kokoo, we
nd that the fair trade premium has under-
written village water boreholes, corn mills, schools, meeting places and bridges (Transfair
USA, 2007a). These e
fi
ff
orts have eased female labor burdens in water collection,
fl
our pro-
duction and childcare across local communities.
Turning from the small farm to the estate sector in Africa, we
nd that fair trade
addresses a set of critical gender issues in sectors where workforces are predominantly
female. Women comprise the majority of workers in a number of African horticultural
crops - such as fresh fruits and vegetables, cut
fi
owers and wine (Barrientos et al., 2003;
Dolan, 2005). Since these are some of the fastest-growing fair trade export areas, the labor
standards required for participating enterprises may have signi
fl
fi
cant positive gender
impacts.
Fair trade's general estate standards build on key ILO conventions (FLO-I, 2007c).
Gender equity is promoted
fi
rst through non-discrimination and equal representation
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