Fair Trade

Injustice has long been a problem in many countries. For people in developing countries, many people suffer from economic problems. The fault lies not in that they work too little, but that they get injustice paid for their work efforts. Their bosses take all profit and pay them minimum wage. To stop this injustice I think Fair trade can improve quality of life and improve the economy in the country. But how much help can this union people give to those who need it? What have they done so far? Is their effort like a drop in the ocean or will the economy of developing countries change to the better thanks to fair trade? In this article I'll try to answer these questions.

But first things first. Where did Fair Trade start? The first attempt to sell fair trade goods in Northern markets was in 1940s and 1950s by a religious group and NGO (non-govermental organization). The goods were almost only exclusively handicraft. Everything from jute goods to cross-stitch work, was mostly sold in churches The goods themselves had often no other function than to indicate that a donation had been made. NGO, MCC (mennonite central committee) and SERRV International were the first in 1946 and 1949 to develop fair trade supply chains in developing countries. In 1969 the first work opened in Netherlands. The leaders of fair trade aimed to change their market by selling almost exclusively goods produced under the terms of fair trade. But the business did not go so well in the long run. In the early 80s fair trade goods began to look “tired and old fashioned”. The following years fair trade started to sell commodities. The first commodities
were tea and coffee. They were quickly followed by dried fruits, cocoa, sugar, fruit juices, rice, spices and nuts. Fair trade sold a little better than before but it did not achieve the goals that were hoped for. I was hard to sell the products because they only had a few shops spread across Europe and many felt the shops were to disconnected form the rhythm and the lifestyle of contemporary development societies. Then Max Havelaar ( developer in NGO) came up with a solution to unite all the fair trade organizations to one. That organization have the name Fair trade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). FLO is now the leading organization in Fair trade market. In 1992 they sold 80% handcrafts goods and 20% commodities. But in 2002 they sold 25,4% handcraft goods and 69,4% commodities. After that fair trade only expanded. But in 2008 fair trade sold around €2,9 billion (US $4,08 billion) worldwide, that is an increase of 22% year to year.

So we know how the fair trade started but how did it change to the better for the people that were making handcrafts goods and they who collected the commodities. The terms of the Fair trade products is:

1. A minimum price that will cover the producers work.
2. An extra bonus to the producer with the aim of developing local community and raise the standers of living for the people who live there.
3. Criteria focusing on the development of socially and economically disadvantaged farmers who work in agriculture on bad terms.
4. Criteria with a view to increasing employee empowerment, by including a democracy appointed committee which takes decisions on how the premium is invested.
5. The producers are part of Fair trade and play an important role in the development of activities and criteria.

That is the terms for the employees that are working for fair trade. It is good that they are letting farmers and workers participate and decide because it is only fair that the people they are trying to help, have something to say and that their opinion matters. I cant say how much they have changed the life for the better. I have only facts form fair trade home site. For that I would need to ask someone who works for fair trade in the third world some questions.

This is a over view of fair trade's work. I have not answered all of the questions but fair trade is working to help people in how need it. But instead of just give them just money they given them work that they can support their families and by that they give something back to the buyer/donator.