World Fair Trade Day: May 12
by Bonnie Alter, London on 05.12.07
Today is World Fair Trade Day and this year's theme is "Kids and Fair Trade". This drawing was done by a child in a Bangladeshi school supported by Fair Trade organisations and is entitled “small change, big difference, fair trade.” Children in developing countries need Fair Trade for the simple reason that their parents are paid substandard wages. This often means that children have to work rather than go to school. The International Labour Organization estimates that 126 million children aged 5–14 work in dangerous and illegal conditions worldwide – 73 million of them younger than ten years old. Coffee, cocoa (chocolate), bananas, oranges and sugar are among the food sectors that most exploit child labour as do cotton and textiles, carpets and rugs, jewellery and sports balls. Most children do not get health care when they need it--on average 30,000 die of poverty every day; often victims of malnutrition and easily treatable diseases like measles. Every time we buy Fair Trade we can improve a child’s life because Fair Trade helps poor families earn a decent living and it improves communities by giving them resources. It can mean that families earn enough money to send their children to school. There are numerous heart-warming examples of womens' co-operatives set up that now have the resources to provide health care and support to their families. Seeing this empowerment changes a child's outlook and understanding of the possibilities that the world has to offer. As one teenage daughter said: "At school I have started my own co-operative for girls only. We think that it is not fair that the girls have to do all the housework while the boys can ride around the village on their bicycles and play football. We think the work should be equal between the girls and the boys." Do your bit: buy Fair Trade. :: World Fair Trade Day
World Fair Trade sounds like a great idea, but I have a few questions (which might lead to concerns depending on the answers). These mainly stem from having done some research and stumbled across a reference that fair trade certification costs $20K at least to obtain. So,
who pays for "fair trade certification"?
who benefits from this money?
How can a small group of farmers afford $20K if they can't send their children to school?
Is Fair Trade a beneficial idea that also leaves many peple out in the cold?
I guess I really would like to see an article on the origins of Fair Trade, who regulates it and the pros & cons of it!
I'm surprised no one responded to your questions, maybe that's because Fair Trade is a complex organic thing and the certification label is only one part of it - the business-accessible end if you like.
The label is paid for by farmer cooperatives who are certified by the Fair Trade Labeling Organization and by businesses who want to add Fairtrade product(s) to their portfolios.
The International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) is the organization that represents producers, growers, farmers, artisans and brands and businesses that demonstrate a 100% commitment to Fair Trade (an organizational commitment rather than a label on a product).
The pioneers of Fair Trade will all be members of IFAT, and events like World Fair Trade Day are run under the auspices of IFAT. The costs associated with IFAT representation are a fraction of the cost of certification and are paid individually by each member. IFAT is developing a new fair trade framework, called the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System (SFTMS) as a means to take Fair Trade principle and protocol much deeper into operations of a business.
You may want to checkout www.worldfairtradeday09.org or www.ifat.org where you will witness the emergence of a much more transparent, democratic and powerful Fair Trade body that will be called the WFTO. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.