Mitch Teberg, MA Associate Member

World Fair Trade Organization: To Create a Vision for Fair Trade

1 July 2011 For Fair Trade to be an effective and efficient response to poverty, and one that contributes to a fair and sustainable economy locally and globally, Fair Trade needs a clear vision for the future. Much of the awareness raising, social justice campaigns and retailing of Fair Trade has admittedly been focused in the North. As a result there is a dependence on this northbound trade built into a system, and the weakness of this dependence came to the surface in the global recession. In the North, a Fair Trade shop may have reduced or stopped ordering altogether in order to weather the economic crisis, but in the South when every importer suddenly took the same action, the impact was greatly amplified. Honestly, when I mention it with directors and managers of Southern Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs), often times I see a sadness reflected in their eyes; there is a sense of abandonment and disillusionment that trade is not all it promises to be. Whether mainstream trade or Fair Trade, all trade is subjected to the same whims of a globally interconnected market. As the Fair Trade Movement grows, let us celebrate the successes in generating awareness of trade justice, but lets also reflect and learn from our experiences. In the wake of the global recession, one lesson became clear for Fair Trade Organizations in developing nations: It is time for Fair Trade to expand into local, national and regional markets in the South! For our global movement to be sustainable there has to be a shift in raising awareness of trade justice through localizing Fair Trade in the South. As a movement we need to ask ourselves, How can Fair Trade be localized in the South? Outside of mass media promotions, the

Mitch Teberg, MA Associate Member most effective and sustained Northern campaigns have been centred in university campuses and in local Fair Trade shops. The same process can occur in the South. In the Philippines, the national Fair Trade movement has undergone a period of reflection and re-evaluation following the global economic crisis. The result of their concerted effort is an established set of standards complete with detailed auditing procedures for national membership; and a set of WFTO-approved standards for all-natural consumable products to be sold on local markets with a national Fair Trade label (Journey for Fair Trade: Development of Local Markets). The Philippine Fair Trade Movement went so far as to create a franchise from which to conduct nationwide shop-based advocacy programs complete with a drive to create and support university campus Fair Trade Movements (Journey for Fair Trade: Franchising Fair Trade). For Southern Fair Trade networks, many lessons can be garnered from the synergy generated by the collaborative efforts of the Philippine Fair Trade Movement! Taking those lessons to heart, in Yogyajakarta, home to one-hundred and twenty-two Indonesian universities, I facilitated local FTOs and the city Ombudsman in creating the Yogya Fair Trade Movement. YFTM will create its own logo and support the launch of ten campus Fair Trade Movements on World Fair Trade Day 2011. In three to four years time, their vision is to have at least fifty campus Fair Trade movements. (Journey for Fair Trade: The Start of a Fair Trade Movement) A change is coming to Indonesia! In Aceh, I worked with Fair Trade coffee farmers to create an image for the future of Fair Trade in their lives and communities. They crafted a vision in which they begin to value-add and increase community income generating opportunities by processing, roasting, packaging and serving their organic Arabica beans in local and provincial markets; Fair Trade localized in support of a local economy. (Journey for Fair Trade: Coffee Part III - Empowering Communities through Action) In this vision the tables have turned. The command over the law of supply and demand of organic coffee beans is in effect in the hands of coffee producers for the first time in history ending vulnerability to speculative importers violating our trust and recklessly profiteering on the Fair Trade label, then excusing their behaviour with an unashamed Its not my problem (Journey for Fair Trade: Coffee Part II - "It's not my Problem"). In short, the days of a heavy dependency on exports to the North must end for Fair Trade to be sustainable. In Malaysia, I met with marginalized producer groups, NGOs, retailers, conscientious consumers, members of the press and university professors committed to making the world a better place. In doing so, I had an opportunity to conduct training on Fair Trade for the management of a socially conscious retail company selling organic products in a nationwide chain of stores, and directly linked them to the 25,000 certified organic Fair Trade farmers in

Mitch Teberg, MA Associate Member Aceh looking to diversify their produce. On April 30th, I facilitated the launch of the Malaysian Fair Trade Initiative which has outlined attainable goals to introduce Fair Trade to Malaysian consumers. (Journey for Fair Trade: Celebrating the Malaysian Fair Trade Initiative) We can make Fair Trade work in the South; Fair Trade can be localized. But this shouldnt just be an isolated endeavour. In Australia there is an effort to unite campus movements by Chris Hoy who founded Fairly Educated which is hosting an international conference on July 2-3rd, 2011. The event will bring together university Fair Trade movements from around the world. For more info, go to http://www.fairlyeducatedconference.com/. For Fair Trade to be sustainable, bridges such as this must be built across oceans uniting movements over the continents. The future of Fair Trade is a united future; a future where Northern and Southern Fair Traders collaborate to expand Fair Trade locally, nationally, and regionally in the South. It can be as simple as experience sharing, or establishing a platform for an exchange of ideas to support to new Fair Trade Movements regardless of where they are located globally (Journey for Fair Trade: Catalysts for Social Change).

This vision for the future of Fair Trade is attainable; we can localize Fair Trade globally.

Mitch Teberg, MA 2011 International Consultant Sustainable Development / Fair Trade Researcher / Trainer / Consultant www.journeyforfairtrade.blogspot.com Posted on: http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1492&Itemid=305