In most cases, fair trade does much more than provide farmers and producers with a fair price. But in some cases, it doesn’t even satisfy that. Much of this is due to the fact that “fair trade” may not be as universal as we may believe.
Other fair trade failures are due to some of the criteria and authenticity of the certifications themselves. Certifications help provide consumers with peace of mind—but there’s certainly still room for exploitation. One of the main criticisms of the fair trade movement is that it certifies many companies that simply aren’t ethical.
Questionable “Fair Trade” Companies
Doesn’t it seem slightly out of character for some megacorporations to hop aboard the fair trade chain?
Many experts think so. Some have dubbed certain certification schemes and companies as “fairtrade-lite,” drawing attention to the fact that some labels allow companies to sell products made with just a portion of fair trade products but still bear the logo.
Referring to the rise of in-house certification schemes, a Guardian article suggests: “What we’re looking at, in short, is something like a corporate capture of fair trade.”
Unfair Pricing
There’s a fine line between competitive prices that get fair trade products into the market and premium prices that genuinely support the movement’s aim to reduce poverty (but aren’t attractive enough for consumers).
Take, for instance, coffee or cocoa. If what’s produced can’t be sold, not all of it can be supported with fair trade’s minimum price. Instead, it receives a lower price leading fair-minded consumers to wonder if fair trade is even worth it.
While farmers and producers are paid wages to provide them with a safety net that can reduce the impacts of global market price drops, it’s wrong to assume they’re getting living wages. In many cases, they’re not.
Fair For Workers?
Then there are the working conditions to attend to. In 2014, a damning report came out indicating that “Fairtrade has made no positive difference—relative to other forms of employment in the production of the same crops—to wage workers”.
For smaller producers, fair trade provides too many barriers to certification, including certification costs, administration fees, and requirements to be in a cooperative. Many truly ethical producers are excluded from the fair trade club simply for their size (and, more importantly, the size of their bank account).
Some non-fair trade producers are actually better supported than those with certification. As a 2018 Forbes article pointed out, craft-based work that takes place at home—mostly by women—isn’t often sought out by fair trade organizations, leaving around 300 million homeworkers out of potentially empowering fair trade partnerships.
However, the Fair World Project argues that “it does not mean that the fair trade model—conceived as a way to enhance opportunities and market access for small-scale farmers—is not working or should be abandoned.”
