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Abstract
Fair-trade activities in the South have tended to be studied in relation to the internal aims of the fair-trade organisations themselves. This article argues that it is also critical to consider the wider fair-trade ‘arena’ or set of interactions. The authors focus on Tanzania and Nicaragua and study the role of four key actors—small-scale producers, co-operatives, development partners, and public authorities. Using comparative data from field studies conducted in 2002–2003, the article identifies key national and international issues affecting local producers. Illustrating how fair trade evolves differently according to context, the article examines how the co-operative movement in Nicaragua has been strengthened by fair-trade production, in contrast to the situation in Tanzania. It concludes by discussing some of the challenges faced by fair trade, including how to reconcile the demands of the market with building solidarity.
Notes
1. See Hopkins Citation2000; Oxford Policy Management Citation2000; FLO Citation2002.
2. The research into banana and coffee producers was undertaken by the Pôle-SUD Centre at the University of Liège, under the leadership of Marc Poncelet on behalf of the Belgian Government's Scientific, Technical and Cultural Service. The fieldwork was completed between September 2002 and September 2003 in Tanzania, Nicaragua, and also Costa Rica and Ghana, where the research focused on banana production.
3. FINE is an informal umbrella of fair-trade organisations, including Fair-trade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT), the Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!), and the European Fair-trade Association (EFTA).
4. See www.commerce-equitable.be, retrieved 14 May 2004.
5. See, for instance, ‘A coffee crisis, devastating domino effect in Nicaragua’, New York Times, 29 August 2001.
6. As fair trade is focused above all on family businesses, there are relatively few permanent or seasonal waged labourers who belong to the producer co-operatives.
7. As a result of the division of land (mainly through inheritance) and the coffee crisis, there is a growing number of agricultural workers, many of whom are unaware of fair-trade issues.
8. When a new co-operative joins CECOCAFEN, the leaders verify that it consists of small-scale producers, although they themselves own so much land that they would no longer qualify under the fair-trade criteria. For example, the secretary of the CECOCAFEN management committee cultivates around 14 hectares of coffee but ensures that no member of a prospective affiliate owns more than 3.5 hectares under coffee production.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Gautier Pirotte
Gautier Pirotte is a sociologist and is Head of Research at the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (Belgian National Foundation for Science Research). His research focuses principally on civil-society organisations in Eastern Europe and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Geoffrey Pleyers
Geoffrey Pleyers is a doctoral candidate at the University of Liège and at CADIS (EHESS-Paris). He is undertaking a study of the anti-globalisation movement, mainly in France, Belgium, and Mexico.
Marc Poncelet
Marc Poncelet is Director of Studies in the Economics Faculty at the University of Liège.