What is Fair Trade? | Impact

Building Sustainable Business

Small farmers face many hurdles in gaining access to today’s global marketplace. From getting access to credit for much needed business purchases, to middlemen who don’t pay fair prices for crops, to simply lacking knowledge of accounting procedures, small producers often cannot make enough to even cover their own costs. This is where Fair Trade Certified comes in. By creating a system of producer cooperatives trained in the necessary skills, Fair Trade farmers are able to deal directly with the market buyers and demand a living wage. With portions of their revenue being continually reinvested, cooperatives are constantly building their capacities and farmers are becoming truly empowered to create change in their communities.

Quotable

Thanks to Fair Trade I have received capacity building trainings on organic production and now I am committed to maintaining a method of production that will protect and sustain the environment.

Ramón Rojas Runco

Fast Facts

Fair Trade USA’s Global Producer Services initiative provides technical assistance and market linkage services to maximize farmers’ Fair Trade sales, and the benefits they gain from them.

From the Blog

Support Fair Trade.Preserve the Planet.

That young boy in the tree is Julio Torres. He lives in a community called El Apante in the mountains of northern Nicaragua. Up until recently, this region was deforested and ecologically decimated...

Fair Trade: 5 Things You Should Know

Fair trade functions on the premise that you, the consumer from an industrialized nation, wouldn't mind paying a premium for goods made by local cooperatives in third world countries; not because the...

Whole Foods supports Haitian growers

Whole Foods Market and its supply chain partners are working overtime to buy as many Fairtrade mangoes as possible during the short season this year in an effort to support the earthquake-stricken...