A recent study has found that Fairtrade co-operatives are better positioned to protect forests than non-certified counterparts.
Commissioned by Fairtrade International, the study involved a desk review of more than 60 documents, interviews with Fairtrade staff and external stakeholders, and a set of interviews, focus groups and surveys with coffee and cocoa co-operatives in Colombia, Honduras and Côte d’Ivoire.
One of the main findings was that the Fairtrade minimum price and premium provide essential resources for co-ops and farmers to invest in conservation as well as EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)-related steps such as geolocation mapping. The study also argues that Fairtrade standards promote the adoption of forest protection measures, with the knowledge often spreading beyond Fairtrade co-ops. Fairtrade co-ops also tend to have more external partnerships than their non-certified counterparts, adds the study. By being part of the Fairtrade network, producers receive programmes and training on topics such as agroforestry and agroecology.
For example, members of the Cobadi co-op in Côte d’Ivoire said the Fairtrade premium allows them to play a role in protecting forests. According to the study, some co-ops and farmers are using their extra resources to invest in some of the EUDR requirements including the required geolocation or polygon mapping.
Similarly, members of the Ecamom co-op in Côte d’Ivoire said the “fight against deforestation in their region was initiated by Fairtrade Africa” and they are “currently involved in adopting agroforestry and other practices thanks to the training they received from their producer network”.
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The Fairtrade co-ops in the study said they found the programmes to be valuable and called for this type of hands-on support to continue. Certification helps them build multi-stakeholder partnerships from both the public and private sectors, they added. The research concluded that Fairtrade co-ops are “much more connected to outside initiatives than their non-Fairtrade counterparts.”
Fairtrade farmers also highlighted the benefits of forest preserrvation offered them, including better microclimates, protection of water sources, more biodiversity, and animal protection. For example, producers in Colombia said they are now can collect medicinal plants and herbs while those in Honduras mentioned the protection of water resources.
The study was conducted by KIT – Royal Tropical Institute, the Chain Collaborative, and Expressing Origin in the context of the EU’s regulation on deforestation-free products, which entered into force in June 2023. Under the new rules, any operator or trader who places commodities on the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, industrial agriculture causes at least 50% of global deforestation.
“The study comes at the right moment, especially when all stakeholders are discussing ways to address EUDR. For Fairtrade, these findings are helping us to better understand and work on innovating our programmatic approach,” said Juan-Pablo Solis, senior advisor on climate and environment at Fairtrade International.
In light of these findings, the study makes several recommendations, including more compensation for the extra work that co-ops have to do on regulatory compliance and financial support for co-ops for conservation measures such as reforestation and agroforestry.
“This study demonstrates, again, how strong, and democratic producer organisations, are best placed to tackle the challenges of sustainability,“ said Solis. “Curving down deforestation can be achieved, particularly in those places where producer organisations are serving their members and addressing root causes. Producer and their organisations are the local leader that we need to restore our ecosystems.“
