Certification Guide

Confused by all the different socially-conscious certifications on coffee products? Imagined-Community has a very convenient and informative guide.

Teaching Resources

The Fair Trader, from Catholic Relief Services, has posted online teaching modules for bringing fair trade principles into secondary school classrooms, as well as links to educational resources from other organizations as well.

Impact of Open-Market Price Fluxuations

The Guardian reports that soaring commodity prices for coffee, tea and cocoa have led some to question the long-term viability of the fair trade model.

Coffee, tea and cocoa prices have soared to multi-year highs in recent months as turmoil in stock markets has sent investors in search of safe places to put their cash.

This situation has fueled criticisms of the fair trade model from free market-oriented institutes, such as the Cato Institute in Washington and the Adam Smith Institute in London.

The economic impact of rising prices is at this point mostly hypothetical, however, since fair trade commerce has grown through 2007 at double-digit rates (see previous post).

Ian Bretman,deputy director of the London-based Fairtrade Foundation, admitted that the current boom might jeopardise the system.

But he added that the open market exaggerated price volatility and would not affect the fair trade model which offered a lot more to impoverished farmers. "Because there had been such a long period of low commodity prices, people have tended to assume that that is the only thing that fair trade does, but it does a lot more," he said.

He said the system offered other benefits such as an efficient supply chain between farms and ports and advance payments in time of need, which farmers should see as a long-term benefit.

We might add that price increases due to shifting funds out of falling stock markets seem particularly liable to sudden reversals.

And, of course, fair trade products include a considerably more diverse range of items than just coffee, tea and chocolate, as the inventory at Fair World Marketplace shows.

Fair Trade Growth

From AmOnline.com:

A new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, “The Next Step in the ethical consumer revolution,” reveals Fair Trade sales across Europe, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Japan have experienced double digit growth since 2002.

Fair Trade Producers Talk

Rachel Dixon in The Guardian interviewed three fair trade producers--of coffee in Costa Rica, tea in Kenya, and cotton in Mali. Also on the Guardian site is a slide show of pictures from a banana growing cooperative in Ecuador.

Fair trade & women's rights

Father Shay Cullen does a good job in the New York Times of summarizing how fair trade effects women in particular. A good read for International Women's Day

Kenyan Tea Producer tauts Fair Trade

Julius Ethang'atha, representing smale-scale tea producers in Kenya, talked to the BBC while visiting Scotland during Fairtrade Fortnight. He described fair trade's effects:

We identified the most disadvantaged tea-producing factory in my area and established a pilot programme to help them work to produce tea for the Fair Trade market.

Since then, the social impact of Fair Trade in that first factory has been enormous.

Schools have been built and existing schools improved.

Dispensaries, water systems, roads, school bursaries for the poorest in society and feeding centres for those with HIV/Aids have been put in place.

All these projects have been funded by the social premium paid through Fair Trade, all of them democratically decided upon by the producers themselves.

Welcome to Our Blog!

We are launching this new blog feature to provide our supporters with regular news about Fair World Marketplace and fair trade news, both local and international. Watch this space, subscribe to our RSS feed, or book-mark us in your "favorites" list to keep informed on fair trade issues and opportunities!

International Women's Day

Join us in celebrating
The International Women’s Day
2008 theme of
“Investing in Women & Girls:  Financing for Gender Equality”
Fair trade provides hope & financial empowerment for disadvantaged women and 
support VERA HOUSE at the same time
  March 15-31st

• Every purchase between March 15-31st enters you into a drawing for a sterling silver bracelet
• Buy a Vera House “white ribbon campaign” bracelet for $1, & we will add a .50c premium to it
• Bring paper products for Vera House and receive a 10% off coupon for use on your next purchase
• Buy a Fair World Marketplace jute bag made by former prostitutes in Calcutta &
•   Fair World Marketplace will donate 30% to VERA HOUSE

Help empower women!
Enjoy coffee and hot cocoa while you shop

International Women's Day 2008
UN Conferences and Events
WHO | International Women's Day 2008
International Women's Day 2008
WomenWatch: International Women's Day