Fairtrade

Fair trade as defined by international organisations such as WFTO (World Fair Trade Organisation) aims to change conventional (and often unfair) trading in a variety of ways to the benefit of people, in particular those from disadvantaged communities whose rights are often not respected. This includes paying a fair (therefore higher) price, cutting out unnecessary intermediaries, practising greater transparency, funding community development projects to be directed by the communities themselves, and providing ongoing training for producers and processors. Fair trade also includes an environmental dimension, yet its environmental regulations are not yet that strict – this is why organic certification alongside fair trade certification is desirable for a wider ethical impact.

I wanted to learn more about fair trade from a Southern perspective – to understand what people working in fair trade at the beginning of the chain really thought, and what the real impacts were for producer groups. This led me to participating in a participative process which has been taking place since 2005, coordinated by the NGO Enda Tiers Monde, involving setting up a local, African, fair trade certification body. The idea is that local people from different sectors involved in, or interested in, fair trade, come together to develop a local concept of fair trade, which reflects African realities and is more easily accessible to producers. Pilot projects are being carried out in different areas which allow the group to base their fair trade regulations on practical experiences.

The Yakaar Niani Wulli organic fair trade cotton products I have been working on with the people of Koussanar are the initial results of one of these pilot projects (see links page for YNW websites). The idea is to process some of the certified organic fair trade cotton locally, rather than exporting the whole harvest as raw cotton – which means that those processing it in the West benefit more from the certification by selling their final products at a higher price. The cotton-processing industry in Senegal has come to a standstill over the past decade due to fierce competition from China – which exports yarns, fabrics and garment to Africa (at cheaper prices than are possible with African manufacturing), ironically often made from African cotton. Due to this lack of industrial processing plants we have been focussing on processing the organic fair trade cotton using traditional handicraft techniques, which the villagers in the Koussanar area practise for their own needs. Spinners, weavers, natural dyers, and tailors have therefore come together to create quality craft textile products - all in the respect of fair trade principles. One of the most notable advantages of the fair trade process is that all actors have been paid a higher price than before, negotiated with them.  Traditional skills are being revived since greater demand has been created. A percentage of the sale price is set aside for the community to use for their own development project of their choice.

I have learnt a great deal about what fair trade can really mean for producers and processors from working on this project. Overall, introducing fair trade to sectors can lead to improvements in quality of life for workers, but there are some complex issues to think about and resolve in order to reach a greater level of fairness. Some of my reflections are below:

Fair trade certification for agricultural products (such as that of FLO-cert) traditionally is attached to the product itself – not the producer group, or the cultivation process. This means that a producer group which has been judged to be respecting fair trade techniques and has gained certification for its cotton, for example, cannot claim that its other crops are fairy traded – these would need to go through the certification process themselves. Certification bodies based in developed countries, which were developed based on the case of South American producers, are not yet well adapted to the realities of producer groups in Africa for example. Certification and auditing costs are very high and farmer groups must be accompanied by an NGO for example to be able to meet them. A lot of paperwork is also asked for, yet many farmers are illiterate. There are also debates surrounding the banning of child labour in fair trade – since teenagers in traditional farming villages may work in the fields (perhaps alongside their schooling) as a way of learning farming skills.

Fair trade with regard to arts and crafts is even more complex. It is difficult to assess whether an arts and crafts product has been produced and traded in fair conditions – for example how do you set a fair price for an original artwork? The best solution seems to be based on a transparent negotiation system – but do the artists and craftspeople necessarily have the confidence and negotiation skills needed, and are they aware of the international value of their work? It is unfortunately at present too easy for small arts and crafts traders to obtain fair trade certification for their organisation, through self-assessment processes, plenty of paperwork, and paying an annual fee – so those with less than honest intentions slip through the net.

For all types of products, for trade to be really fair, the whole production, processing, and trading process must be taken into account when awarding certification. A t-shirt made from certified fair trade cotton from Senegal may be manufactured in unethical conditions in Asia, then sold for a high price to consumers ready to pay more for a fair trade product. Certification organisations are beginning to take this into account and are setting up mechanisms which will ensure transparency from production to sale, but there is still a long way to go.

To sum up, in order to make fair trade more reliable and more widely available, work still needs to be done in terms of transparency throughout the production process, reducing the price of certification, and for producers to be able to manage certification themselves without the need for help from an NGO. Fair trade still needs to be profitable for all actors involved, but needs to go beyond conventional trade relations and consider the wider human picture.

In the future I would like to experience fair trade production chains in other parts of the world, especially related to textiles and clothing, in order to gain further expertise and insight.

Image: tailor working with organic fair trade cotton cloth in Koussanar, Senegal.