Why fair trade isn’t “fair”

Olo, Treasurer

Fair trade can be defined as trade between companies in developed countries and producers in developing countries in which fair prices are paid to the producers. An increasing number of supermarkets are partaking in fair trade, the products of which can usually be recognised by a special logo. The aim is to pay local farmers the fair price they deserve for their produce. Surely this is good, right? In developing countries, highly productive farm equipment are often hard to acquire especially because the local farmers reside in the village areas. These farmers typically use outdated farming techniques, and can work long, laborious days in challenging weather conditions. Unlike local British farmers with access to market information regarding their produce, and the price they should be paid, farmers in developing countries are uneducated. Farmers in developing – countries due to a range of circumstances – have little information about their overseas customer, leading them to oversell their produce but at a very low price. A price so low it’s disgusting. It also fascinates me that farmers have to pay a yearly registration fee to be part of the scheme. What about the poorer farmers, Are they subjected to a life of unfair prices? Or farmers living in remote areas of the world who do not have access to sign up to the scheme. I blame white supremacy that has previously, and still is conquering the world. Slavery started when a white man intruded onto African soil, tearing it to pieces, like a kid in a candy store committing heinous crimes against humanity. After decades of not playing fair in addition to oppression, now you want to “play fair?”. what lives would these farmers lead if their country had been given a fair chance of development?. If their past and present weren’t defined by slavery or shaped by white supremacy, or if their government officials aren’t so easily controlled like a puppet dancing to the tunes of his international puppet masters. Buying a fair trade product, I should think of how many lives could be improved from the extra money they get from making a “fair deal”. However, the truth is I don’t. I refuse to acknowledge the steps of “self righteousness” after years of irreversible damage. The simple truth is, it’s easy to play fair, to trade fair and to give a human being the chance of a fair living. The sad truth we learn from history is that nothing is ever done fairly. Fair trade to me is just another brand, a marketing scheme that is supposed to appeal to consumer emotions. Next time you buy a fair trade item ask yourself, “Am I buying into a brand supermarket and corporations hide behind or an actual fair scheme?” Many developed countries turn a blind eye to the hearth breaking standard of living in undeveloped countries, simply to maintain their own nation’s wealth, a phenomenon similar to the oppression of black people to keep white people in power. Despite this, I cannot disregard the fact that for these local producers in developing countries, such as Nigeria ( where I come from) it is their livelihood. They need to survive, and at least the rules of the unfair trading are being changed.