Poor Farmer

This statement is in response to the SOAS study, also published here: http://poorfarmer.blogspot.com/2014/05/study-fairtrade-has-made-no-positive.html Fairtrade International May 16, 2014 Fairtrade International is strongly committed to improving trading terms, working conditions and poverty outcomes for both farmers and workers employed in Fairtrade supply chains, which are the core areas of our work. We value rigorous independent research exploring Fairtrade’s impact on  poverty, trade, and rural farmer and worker livelihoods and the use of the Fairtrade label. Such research helps us to strengthen our work and better address challenges that persist in the regions where we work.  Fairtrade standards regarding workers’ rights are benchmarked with International Labour Organisation conventions, and recent informed changes include Fairtrade’s revised Hired Labour Standard with stronger protection and benefits for workers,  the launch of a new project ...

Fairtrade has made no positive difference to wage workers; its contribution to poverty reduction is not the most effective one Excerpt Fairtrade, Employment and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia and Uganda Final Report to DFID May 19, 2014 (Re-published on May 24, 2014) This research project addresses three intersecting issues where it has been acknowledged that there is too little empirical knowledge: the transmission mechanisms linking global trade in agricultural products with poverty reduction; the functioning and significance of rural labour markets in low-income countries; and the labour market dimensions of Fairtrade certification. The Fairtrade, Employment and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia and Uganda (FTEPR) research team, based at SOAS, University of London, set out to develop and apply innovative, careful research methods in order to gather analytically useful, policy relevant evidence on these issues. Thus, the core objective of the research was to impr...