Fair Trade: how will we work it out?

During the month we discussed Fair Trade in all kind of aspects. Now it's my job to come to a final blog describing our findings and opinions.

First of all, we've chosen to approach Fair Trade by the effect it has on global health care. While we're working this out in our paper we can't avoid the role of the government. Together with some statistic data and graphs we will show that Fair Trade really does change the global world.

Furthermore our opinion is to make the presentation attractive and instructive, to tell something that the youth will keep in mind. We will try to reach this by bringing in some modern aspects. Show the increasing role of promotion, and especially, celebrity endorsement by giving some examples. Together we can discuss if this form of promotion is effective and ask the opinion of students to get some interaction.

So this was a brief description of how we will work out the concept Fair Trade during the year. We're all glad that we've chosen this as our subject, because it's so nowadays and we think it's important that the younger people get in touch with it.

Tessa De Clerck

No sources used

Fair trade changes women’s lives

Seventy percent of the world’s 1.3 billion poor people surviving on less than a $ 1 a day are women. In general we can say that women work in inhuman conditions, earning less respect and pay. In this blog I will show you how fair trade tries to help women by focusing on the important role women play in providing all the needs of their family.

Fair trade directly benefits women by allowing them the opportunity to work and earn money while tending to their daily tasks. They spend twice as much time as men on unpaid activities like cooking, cleaning, child care…

Investments in women’s well being by offering them paid work can have far-reaching positive effects. When they are able to generate an income, they tend to spend it towards the well-being of their family. This results in better schooling, healthier food and improved health care.

I conclude that the fair trade organization can end the cycle of poverty only by enabling women to earn money. It is the key to help developing countries!

Lynn Decuypere

Used sources:

http://www.ourmomentum.com/fair_trade_women.html
http://www.lwr.org/fairtrade/docs/womenandfairtrade.pdf

Fairtrade and distribution

 

In this blog I would like to write about one of the disadvantages Lynn mentionned. The distribution of fairtrade products is something that certainly needs to be mentionned in our next tasks. It is clear that fairtrade is sometimes hard to find in supermarkets and even harder to find in grocery stores, everyone links fairtrade to the Oxfam shops. We can question usefulness for the progress of fairtrade to find its products everywhere.

On the one hand we can say that the more places the products are available, the more the consumer is confronted with these products and the more they will buy these products. A problem for many consumers who really want to buy fairtrade products is that not all products are available in a fairtrade version, so when you implant the fairtrade products in a supermarkt they can buy all their products they need at one place. 

On the other hand we can doubt if the effect will be that big as aspected. Most of the people are rationalist and will buy the cheapest products and not the fairtrade products. People who really want to buy these fairtrade products because they believe in its concept will definitely go to the Oxfam shops if that is the only place to find this products.

I conclude that increasing the distribution of the fairtrade products is a good cause, but we may not overrate the effect of it.


Cédric De Prol
(no sources used)

Lipton for the future



On the Lipton tea plantation

As you can see in my first blog fair trade does not only guarantee a fair price for the producers in the developing countries, beside that companies also have to respect the living conditions of their employees, especially women and children.

Lipton is a great example of a multinational who is very motivated to improve the standard of living on their tea plantations. That is why they are rewarded with the rainforest alliance certification. On these plantations the workers are treated fairly. On the one hand the work conditions are good. The farmers get a fixed income and they aren’t allowed to work more than eight hours a day. On the other hand the living conditions are respected as well. They have a decent house to live in and there is clean water available. Lipton is also taking care of the families of their workers. They provide medical service to them and the children can enjoy free education.

For me this is a praiseworthy project from Lipton, they do really help the poor people in the world. But it’s obvious why Lipton is showing this commercial on TV so often, so I realize that Lipton is using their certification as a PR-tool.

Used sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6bD1Sd1lmU&feature=related

http://www.liptonforthefuture.be/?lang=nl

Stefanie De Lille

Government and fairtrade

I think we should better not forget the role of the government, it  is elementary when you want to reach all these  benefits like poverty reduction, community development,  improvement of environmental health and consumer awareness.  I doubt it if fairtrade would exist without this support of the government?

What the most of us probably don’t know is that the government pumps millions into fairtrade, however, only the multinationals make big money by selling this fairtrade products. Would these  multinationals also cooperate at the fairtrade program without the governmental support?’

First of all, I think companies would continue the fair-trade when government suddenly stops donating money. The fairtrade brand is to important for their image nowadays. Furthermore, I have to notice that the government probably never will stop to subsidize fairtrade organizations, it actually boosts their image as well. Finally the best solution might be that the government gives loans in stead of subsidying the companies projects. By that way the government makes fairtrade possible whitout investing money.

Cédric De Prol
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/press_office/press_releases_and_statements/october_2009/uk_government_announces_12_million_investment_for_fairtrade_on_15th_anniversary_of_the_fairtrade_mark.aspx

Disadvantages of fair trade

So far we have especially described the advantages of fair trade. In this blog I will discuss some disadvantages.

First of all we can say that the export of non-processed supplies is much cheaper than processed goods. For example: the export of coffee beans instead of roasted coffee. That’s why multinationals are not encouraged to invest in new technological facilities for Third World countries.

Second, most fair trade products are still sold in specialized shops like Oxfam-Wereldwinkel, not in mainstream distribution chains. Nowadays this trend is changing, as some traders offer the possibility of on-line shopping.

Another hindrance to become fair trade certified is the certification cost and the process of acquiring registration. Mostly the cooperatives do not have the money to pay those costs and the process can take a long time.

The last disadvantage refers to the blog of Tessa: ‘The benefits of fair trade’. On the one hand, as Tessa refers to in her blog, organic farming improves the farmers’ health and their independence. But on the other hand, this conversion from agrochemicals to organic farming asks some expensive investments from the farmers.

In spite of these disadvantages, I conclude that fair trade creates a better life for the farmers in developing countries!

Lynn Decuypere

Used sources:
http://www.copacgva.org/about/2005/uganda-fairtrade.pdf

http://www.fair-trade-hub.com/disadvantages-for-fair-trade.html#top

The benefits of Fair Trade

Each blog described one part of the advantages of Fair Trade. My goal for this blog is to join all these together.

When you ask someone after the benefits of Fair Trade, the first thing they imagine is the poverty reduction. This contains less illiteracy, more healthcare, etc. However Fair Trade aims for more benefits.

To begin with we have community development. Nowadays organizations in developing countries are more transparent and democratic, both men and women have a say. Beside this we can notice a huge increase in cooperatives, a company where farmers all work together and so they have more to say (because they eliminate intermediate trade).

Second is the improvement of environmental health. Fair trade tries to reach this by encouraging organic farming and avoiding the use of agrochemicals. This would improve the farmers' health and their independence towards developed countries. Namely, agrochemicals are produced by them.

At the end of the list of benefits stands the consumer awareness. More often people will chose to buy products with an Ecolabel or Fair Trade Label on it. If everyone is in favour I recommend that we can work this topic out as a part of our presentation.

Tessa De Clerck


Used source:
http://www.fair-trade-hub.com/benefits-of-fair-trade.html

Emma Watson sees the benefits of her fair trade clothing line



Emma Watson

 

Emma Watson, the famous actress of the legendary Harry Potter movies, uses her popularity to show people what fair trading is all about. She visited a project, called swallows, in Bangladesh where handmade clothes are produced. This project was different from the other places she had visited before. The living conditions were much better, there was a sense of community, the employees were proud of what they were doing and women were earning the same as men.

There are lots of other examples about celebrities who are supporting fair trade. In 2002 and 2004 special benefit concerts were held in London to promote fair trade. Chris Martin from Coldplay was one of the performers. But also here in Belgium famous people are using their power to help the Oxfam shops. Remember all the advertisements in the magazines some years ago with Dina Tersago, Francesca Vanthielen, Goedele Liekens, Roos Van Acker, Guy Verhofstadt and many others.

I find it very important that celebrities are involved with fair trade because people look up to them and so they have much influence. If they support fair trade I believe that more people will buy fair trade products, which can only be a good thing.





Guy Verhofstadt

 

Dina Tersago



Roos Van Acker

 

 





Used source:

http://www.looktothestars.org/news/5109-emma-watson-sees-the-benefits-of-her-fair-trade-clothing-line

Stefanie De Lille

Fairtrade and planet

In the post called ‘What is fairtrade?’, we can read some conditions of what fairtrade is all about. In my view the role of the environment mentioned there is crucial. What would be the use of fairtrade when it helps the farmers on the one hand but neglects the role of the environment on the other hand.

The eco-friendly policy fair trade stands for might also be an extra-stimulus for potential buyers. Giving more money for two similar products might not look rational at first sight, however, it does when you know what you are paying for. You can see it as an investment, it’s not all about giving more money to poor people but it also helps out ourselves to live in a cleaner and better world by guaranteeing this product is eco-friendly.

I can only acclaim that the ecological aspect gets more promotion. People need to be aware that they are buying good products. They have the key to change this planet into a more fair and healthier world.

Cédric De Prol
http://fairtradehelps.wordpress.com/about/

Beyond the price: fair trade social premiums

When people discuss the object fair trade they are often focused on price and the fair monetary compensation for the work of small-scale producers. In this blog, I will illustrate that fair trade is more than a fair price.

In my first blog ‘Fair trade is unique’ I wrote about a premium for development, which is paid directly to producer groups by importers of Fair Trade Certified products. This additional payment makes it possible for producer cooperatives to invest in education, infrastructure, healthcare…

For example: ‘The Kuapa Kokoo’, a cooperative of cocoa farmers in Ghana spent their Fair Trade Social Premiums on the building of clean water wells, mobile medical clinics and on the construction of several schools in their community.

My opinion on the use of the Fair Trade Label as a PR-tool by multinationals is that there are no negative consequences for the Third World countries as long as the multinational is also willing to pay an additional amount of money to improve global health care. We should not forget that fair trade aims to create a better world for small-scale producers and not for multinationals!

Used source:
http://humanrights.change.org/blog/view/beyond_the_price_fair_trade_social_premiums

Lynn Decuypere

Fairtrade growth brings benefits to 1.2 million producers and workers

The Fair trade Labelling organization (FLO) units all the smaller certifying organizations who own the fair trade mark, so which means they are supposed to respect all the ethical underlying standards. It’s the FLO who published in 2008 an evaluation and monitoring report which is entitled ‘the Benefits Of Fair Trade’. This report is based on data from audits and gives us an answer to the effectiveness of fair-trade.


A first conclusion is that more than one million producers benefited from fair trade in 2009 and this already huge importance can only raise in the future. Secondly fair trade’s biggest presence is in East-Africa but there is a spectacular growth noticeable in the Caribbean, Central America, Middle Africa and Southern Asia. People living in these continents need the fair trade organization to get a fair price for their goods and that is why small producers are able to survive. The last striking given learns us that coffee is still the biggest fair trade product next to tea, cotton, honey, cacao and bananas.

I think it is really important that this report gives the FLO a more complete picture of faire trade, and about how workers and producers may benefit from the organization all over the world. This is also the way it enables them to do better in the future besides it gives them an idea if fair trade is making a significant difference to producers.

Used source:

http://www.confectionerynews.com/Markets/Fairtrade-growth-brings-benefits-to-1.2-milion-producers-and-workers

Link to the report from 2008:

http://www.fairtrade.net/fileadmin/user_upload/content/2009/resources/Benefits_of_Fairtrade_2008.pdf

Stefanie De Lille

What is fair trade?

I think it may happen to most of us: you’re walking in the supermarket and you spot a product with the fair trade logo on it. Of course you need a certification for using that mark, but what does it really need to use that logo for your product?


Still a lot of people nowadays have to work and live in poor circumstances and earn less than one dollar a day, besides they have to work in sweatshops. Multinationals exploit them in function to maximize their profits. That is why non government organizations created a fair trade market.

To call your product a fair trade product it must content some conditions: paying the right price to the producers, but at the same time encourage the independence of them; respect the environment, woman and children,…

Finally I like to mention that everyone can contribute to make the world a more equal place by just buying a fair trade product, every bit helps. If thousands of people want a fair product it will help pressure the other companies to do the same thing and start a more ethical business. But pay attention while buying a fair product because an expensive product does not mean it’s a fair one.


used source:

http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/108/1/What-is-fair-trade.html

Stefanie De Lille

Abuse of the Fair Trade Label by multinationals

Who really makes money from Fair Trade? That's a question people got when Starbucks announced that its coffee would be Fair Trade certified. In connection with this occurrence, an interesting article appeared on The Ecologist (Is Fair Trade still fair, 2009). They make clear that consumers need to be aware of the use of Fair Trade certification as a marketing or PR tool. That's why I want to react on the blog "Fair Trade as a useful tool to boost your company's image".

To be honest, I'm not too sure about his reasoning. First of all, I think that only a little percentage of the extra profits will move on to the farmers of developing countries. We could say that "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer". Second, It's clear for everyone that Fair Trade aims that producers and workers in developing countries benefit from global Fair Trade sales, not the multinationals.

Because of this, Fair Trade Labeling Organizations have to increase wakefulness in order to achieve trade justice. The expand of Fair Trade is rightful, but it need to be done in a way that nurture the artisans who are in bad situations!

Tessa De Clerck
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/270375/is_fairtrade_still_fair.html

Fairtrade as a useful tool to boost your company’s image.

Starbucks Hampstead Heath manager Jessica Stoller picks coffee beans in Tanzania


In the underlying article Starbucks, one of the most well known fairtrade companies, had it’s staff involved in a highly bizarre experiment. Starbucks has sent some of it’s staff to work on the coffee plantations. The question that raises here is, “What does Starbucks really wants to approve by doing this?”


On the one hand they want to show the customers and staff it is worth it to give more money for the products. On the other hand some critics blame Starbucks this is just a PR stunt and fairtrade is just a simple instrument to polish up the corporate social responsibility statement in the annual report.

I think it’s good when companies use the “fairtrade image” to boost their sales. Actually the more sales means the more profits, as a result, there is also more money to give the farmers a higher price for their products. The critics are definitely wrong when they say that fairtrade is only a PR stunt. Fairtrade might boost sales and profits for the multinationals, nevertheless, it helps the farmers out as well.


Cédric De Prol
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/nov/06/starbucks-employees-africa-coffee-farmers

Fairtrade is unique

Before we discuss the subject fair trade and the social and environmental standards it is related to, I suggest to clarify a bit the Fair Trade Foundation. fair trade is the only ethical label whose purpose is to tackle poverty and empower producers in developing countries. It delivers unique benefits to producers and the markets.

First of all it is unique for the producers. For their products, buyers must pay at least a fair trade minimum price. This price aims to cover the production costs so it forms a safety net for farmers when market prices fall below a certain level.
Producer organizations are always paid a premium for development, which can only be used for the social and economic benefits of the workers and not for company owners.

Second, it is unique in the market. The Fair Trade Foundation has become the most widely-recognized ethical label in the world. A study in 2008 showed that a half of the consumers are familiar with the fair trade mark.

 I think fair trade is a very interesting subject with a lot of topics we can discuss during this year! 

Lynn Decuypere


Used sources:http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/fairtrade_is_unique.aspx

Fair Trade and global health care

Not all trade is fair! Producers don't always get a fair treatment. It's the task of Fair Trade to set this right.

The notion Fair Trade aims that all artisans in developing countries would be treated fairly and that they have widen access to markets to sell their products. Beside this, Fair Trade is also focused on social and environmental standards such as education and global rights. We can say that they pay a lot of attention to global health care.

That's why I propose approaching Fair Trade by the effect it has on the global evolution of equal rights. This theme is an important subject of conversation nowadays and we all are interested in the progress of it. I think it would be very informative to find some answers on that during the year. We can deal with topics such as; the main goals of Fair Trade in the future, how it can affect global gender equality and global education, if Fair Trade is sustainable, etc..

This study would give us a lot of statistical data and graphics of the current situation of global health care and some future prospects.

Some (scientific) articles and videos I recommend
http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-future-of-fair-trade-2
http://www.v2020la.org/pub/PUBLICATIONS_BY_TOPICS/VARIOUS/Achieving%20health%20equity....pdf

Tessa De Clerck