The Pros And Cons Of Fair Trade

The small but ever growing social movement, fair trade, attempts to oppose commodity fetishism and provide another option for the capitalist society is obstructed by the differences among all the participants of fairtrade in terms of their perceptions, intentions and interpretations of what constitutes “fair”. According to Kharel and Middendorf (2015) There are many differences among all the participants of fair trade at all levels in terms of their perceptions and interpretations of fair trade” (p. 255). Firstly there are certifying organizations such as FLO (Fairtrade Labelling International) and WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) that act as governing bodies. These organizations developed a “Charter of fair trade principles” to relay a consistent definition and guidelines of those pursuing fair trade activities
Fair trade attempts to provide opportunities to small producers but there is a “lack of knowledge of what fair trade is and how it works” among producers because it is the cooperative leadership that handles most of the “activities related to fair trade”(Kharel and Middendorf, 2015, pg. 256). This is what Kharel and Middendorf say contributes to the “lack of producer commitment” because they do not understand the vision of fair trade which often leads to “producers’ defection of both the fair trade network and cooperative when the producers receive a better price in the traditional market” (2015, pg. 256). With the slow rise but growing popularity, Fair Trade is still limited to few agricultural commodities and specific geographic locations. A study by Brown published in 2007 looks at closer at the impact of fair trade in Africa, specifically Ghana, Tanzania and Nicaragua where there is a struggle for fair trade companies to be profitable when it comes to chocolate and