Fair Trade Producers

Fair Trade Producers

Fair Trade benefits non Fair Trade farmers too.  Orthodox economic concerns about Fair Trade being a monopsony and causing lesser development to occur amongst non Fair Trade producers have proved unfounded.  Modeling Fair Trade as a monopsony shows it creates higher labor rates and price thresholds which benefit all regional producers, Fair Trade and non Fair Trade alike. 

According to Sen’s freedom based capabilities approach, Fair Trade leads to greater freedom and the realization of justice.  Fair Trade increases a producer’s capability to engage in something they value by teaching them skills they can use to generate an income with (i.e. knit for export).  Fair Trade grows opportunities by providing market access and income.

Fair Trade produces important non monetary benefits that are often unrecognized by orthodox economic models.    These benefits include a better quality of life, better education and nutrition for children, more positive outlook for self and children, organization and development skills, technical assistance, social support, better price negotiation skills, and medical attention.  The use of social premium funds have led to infrastructure and community improvements such as roads, vehicles, schools, and conservation programs, enjoyed by people outside of the Fair Trade system too.

Fair Trade producers though are feeling disenfranchised as large Fair Trade institutions pressure them for more production, yet give them little space to participate in discussions or decision making.  Large buyers with questionable trade practices are retailing Fair Trade products causing people to question the double standard of Fair Trade (the producers have to be fair but not the buyer).  This erodes Fair Trade’s ability to deliver justice for all.

Women are treaded equally by Fair Trade institutions yet, their lives are quite different than those of men’s.  Women suffer from time poverty, having many more hours of work to do a week than men.  Their participation in Fair Trade comes at a much larger cost as they also have reproductive labor and household work to balance as well.  Women in general, do not have access to decent work; secure, paid, safe labor.  Fair Trade does offer a degree of opportunity that many women might not otherwise have.  Most women realize agency freedom - the freedom not for one’s own self, but for something seen as important - in the educational opportunities they create for their children.  In Bolivia, some women are restricted from participating in Fair Trade by their families.  This minimizes Fair Trade’s ability to advance freedom (unless social reasoning is used to reverse the situation – this is discussed in the next section).  Bolivians experience a poorer quality of life as compared to other Latin American countries.  This is due to Bolivia’s extreme poverty and also effects Bolivian’s access to justice (though recently economic conditions do seem to be improving).

In order for Fair Trade to fully expand justice, the time inequalities in women’s and men’s lives need to be addressed.  It is unfair for women to assume the burden of home work while also working in Fair Trade and get the same compensation as a man without these responsibilities.  A gender premium paid to Fair Trade women by Fair Trade men, would help to alleviate some of this difference and enable the women to hire household help, or afford the option to work less in Fair Trade to have more time for leisure and home work.

Additional studies of other Fair Trade women artisans throughout different parts of the world are recommended to see if there are other obstacles or challenges in women’s lives that effect their ability to experience justice through Fair Trade.  This could be done through Fair Trade Federation memberships and in-country studies.  Keeping in mind that 60% of the Fair Trade knitters in this study were not directly affiliated with a Fair Trade institution, a larger comparative study could be done both between Bolivian and Peruvian Fair Trade groups, in institutions and not, to see 1. how different levels of country wealth and investment affect one’s experience of justice and 2. How access and participation in Fair Trade institutions effect one’s experience of justice. (Note:  The author worked with Fair Trade knitting groups in Peru for a few years and is familiar with knitters in that country too.)