Every person deserves to have the resources they need to live a safe, sustainable, healthy life where they get to choose their own path. Unfair trade makes this impossible for the farmers and workers that grow products Americans enjoy every day. That’s why we start with trade because it strikes at the heart of wealth inequality.
brands offer 37,000 Fairtrade certified products globally. Over 2 million farmers and workers worldwide are Fairtrade certified in Fairtrade retail sales in 2017Fairtrade connects farmers in Latin America & the Caribbean, Africa & the Middle East, Asia and Asia Pacific with businesses and consumers in the US—and all of the traders and manufacturers in between. We specifically work with producers outside of the US who grow products like bananas, coffee and cocoa.
Fairtrade puts more money into the hands of farmers and workers through a unique pricing model, sets and monitors rigorous standards at every step of the supply chain, supports producers through local and regional expert networks, and creates demand for ethical goods in countries like the US.
Let’s take a look at the unique pricing model:
Farming is the single largest industry in the world—employing over one billion people. Yet, many farmers live on $2 per day. This is not enough. Poverty is the root of many social and economic injustices that people in agricultural and rural communities face.
This problem is not new. The injustices that farmers face exist because of historical inequalities and injustices, many of which were solidified during the Colonial era and continue to the present day.
The system basically uses trade as a tool, making trade fair to achieve a bigger dream, a bigger goal, and it's all about communities, about better living conditions, giving back to the farmers and putting them on the world map.
Gabrielle Oti, Papua New Guinea
Make fair trade part of your everyday life. Find out how you can get involved in the movement to make trade equitable and sustainable.
