Peru, Fair Trade Coffee and the Minimum Wage
September 22nd, 2006 • Uncategorized
I doubt that anyone thinks that the Fairtrade accreditation system is perfect. A hugely complex beast, it has to work with a variety of farmers, cultures, products and people across massive distances with little money to spend on checking up or enforcement. From the coffee farmers to the co-operatives to the roasters to the cafes, the system is supposed to be able to guarantee consumers that the product their buying was produced under ethical conditions with a fair amount been paid to the farmers and labourers. Consumers trust the label as their guarantee, and that’s a trust that’s not easily given but can be easily lost. So it can be very disheartening to read of reports of some Fairtrade farmers paying below minimum wages to their employees. The Financial Times investigated five farms in Peru and found that four of the five were paying 10 soles a day, whereas the minimum wage is 11 soles a day. It’s not a huge difference but in propaganda value alone this can be quite a powerful piece of information in the wrong hands.
It’s good, however, to keep this in perspective. The Fairtrade farmers don’t yet sell all, or even the majority in most cases, of their fairtrade accredited crop at Fairtrade prices. This means it is understandly hard for them to achieve immediate 100% compliance with wages. Also, the Fairtrade system is all about progression. This means that when signing on the Fairtrade system farmers agree that each year they will strive for higher standards and better quality products. This makes it easier for new farmers to come on board and ensures that no-one gets apathetic about ethical production standards.
The Fairtrade system isn’t foolproof yet. Of course it’s sad to see non-fairtrade products been exported as Fairtrade, or to see Fairtrade produce planted in environmentally-irresponsible ways. However the system is still relatively new, it isn’t cash rich, and is currently the best option out there to securing an ethical product.
Addendum:FLO has responded to the FT article. A very good read I would highly recommend you download and read the pdf. In brief: the wage being paid on Fairtrade farms in Peru is 25% higher then other farms in the area, the farms in question are progressively increasing their adherence to Fairtrade standards, FLO had already picked up the supply irregularities and had planned investigation into Peruvian co-ops passing off non-Fairtrade product as Fairtrade. It also contains details on the independence of FLO and the accreditation system as well as information on the accusations of environmentally irresponsible planting.
Read more insights at Owen’s musings and Green LA Girl.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Related posts:
Recent comments