Fair trade more than just pricing

Fair trade not only benefits small scale farmers. It also excites the European and American consumers.

By Bonita Nuwagaba and James Kimbowa

31. July 2008

“I would not mind having more” is an expression that anyone enjoying a meal would not be shy to make. Often one would even ask to know the ingredients but seldom does one care to know the farmer or producer of the ingredients of the products that they like or what happens in the process of production. Are the producers exploited? Do they get a fair price for what they produce?

The term fair trade is catchy and a possible answer to the concerns of small scale producers.

“Our interest is in getting the best price and on time” says Aliku Alfred, sesame farmer in Arua.

More than the price
But fair trade is more than the price. According to the International Fair Trade Association,

“Fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seek greater equity in international trade.”

It targets small scale producers organised in groups. Where final products to the market are labelled with a fair trade mark, the product gains better export value. A growing number of Europeans and American consumers are concerned about unfair international trade policies. They want to support the marginalised producers, workers and their communities by purchasing products labelled FairTrade (FT).

Certification
For an organisation to have their products certified as a Fair Trade product, it must meet the requirement of the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System. This involves showing commitment to improve and maintain long term relationships with its producer groups. Farmers in a particular group are assured that their produce will fetch a minimum price not below the world market price. They are also assisted to improve on the well being of their community.
An improvement could be made to sanitation, water or transport infrastructure. Working in groups assists the farmer to meet the required quality and quantity for the buyer. With an assured market the farmers can even have the confidence to apply for and accept loans which will assist in improving their livelihood at household level. It must be noted that fair trade certification is only for small scale farmers.

An individual producer who wants to benefit from fair trade, has to be apart of a producing group in the community. Everybody can, in principle, participate, except that the multi-national companies are excluded. They are already making the money they should make, says Helle Løvstø Severinsen, Trade Justice Coordinator, MS Denmark.

Trade barriers
Products from developing countries including Uganda are faced with restriction on entering the developed world markets, and fair trade is definitely not an immediate answer to these restrictions. Negotiations are going on with slow progress. MS Denmark works with fair trade at two different levels. One is market oriented, where MS lobbies Danish consumers to buy more fair trade. The other is the political approach involving lobbying and advocating decision-makers for fair trade agreements.

On an international level MS Denmark participates in the trade negotiations and campaigns engaging World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European, Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), says Helle Severinsen,

Even when fair trade is an uphill struggle, particularly within the international trade agreements, MS Uganda Programme Officer Enoch Mugabi affirms that fair trade is the way to go.

“At the moment MS Uganda’s strategy for trade empowerment does not include fair trade, but it is definitely the way to go in the future. I normally put my ear to the ground. And what I hear is that small scale producers and farmers give testimonies of getting employment and improved livelihoods after access to a steady market,” Enoch Mugabi says.