Enfield council last night recanted its June decision to declare Enfield an Unfairtrade Borough (see the blog of June 29th) and voted by a hefty margin to support the concept of Fairtrade. There is still some way to go before we join the 218 boroughs, towns, villages, cities, counties, islands and zones that have already received accreditation from the Fairtrade Foundation as Fairtrade whatevers, but we're on our way. It seems a good moment to take a look at the Fairtrade concept, which councillors were clearly unfamiliar with in June, but are beginning to get to know.
Many producers of primary commodities in developing countries are under heavy pressure from competition from the multinationals. Huge plantations run by agribusiness with massive investment in fertilisers and machinery can undercut the small local grower, and produce more supermarket-friendly items too: shiny, perfectly round fruit, for instance. In addition, the market price of commodities like coffee, tea and cocoa is controlled by global players and fluctuates wildly with no reference to local conditions. At low points it can be not worth the effort to harvest the crop. Trying to make a living as a poor farmer can be difficult, verging on impossible. Many have had to give up, sell their farms to the very conglomerates that have bankrupted them, and end up working what used to be their own land as day labourers. Those that struggle on may not be able to send their children to school, or buy medecines when they get sick.
Enter the Fairtrade fairy, stage right, magic wand upraised. Fairtrade companies set a minimum price for the commodities they buy, at a level which will permit producers to work their way up to a decent life, send the kids to school, and look after their families' health. When the market price is high, the Fairtrade price will be the same; when it drops, the Fairtrade price drops too, but only so far, to a point where a living can still be made. Where labourers are employed, the Fairtrade rules specify that they must not only be paid a fair wage, but given decent working conditions. There are caveats to that: where the employers are themselves struggling - which will usually be the case, at least when the scheme starts up - providing the kind of working conditions one would like to see may be a crippling burden; in that case the employers are permitted to work up to speed gradually, but must be providing better conditions than the local competition. The whole thing is monitored closely by a Fairtrade Monitoring Organisation - for organisations trading in this country it is the Fairtrade Foundation - which ensures that the promised premium prices are indeed paid, that the local community is genuinely benefitting, and that working conditions are up to scratch. As long as the conditions are met, the end product being sold in our shops is permitted to display the Fairtrade logo: the one at the top of this blog.
Ill-informed critics sometimes wonder aloud whether any of the premium prices we pay for products with the FT logo actually makes its way back to the producers. The foregoing explanation should convince you that that it does. That doesn't necessarily mean, though, that all of the extra goes to the producers. In fact, because Fairtrade supply chains are often shorter than non-FT, the price in the shops should often be the same, but the public are prepared to pay more for the feelgood factor, and retailers are quite happy to take extra off them if they can get away with it. So FT products may well be marked up just to get extra profit for the retailer, but that doesn't affect the other end of the chain, where the producers too have their much-needed extra income.
It will be Fairtrade Fortnight soon (26th Feb to 11th March). Look out for promotions in the shops and special events round the borough, or see the Enfield Fairtrade Campaign's website. But don't wait for that - all the supermarkets and some smaller shops sell Fairtrade goods - get out there and buy some.
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