In the face of a changing climate and global instability, supporting farmers with fairer prices is more crucial than ever, says the Fairtrade Foundation.
This Fairtrade Fortnight (9-22 September) the foundation is calling on UK consumers to ‘be the change’ by choosing more Fairtrade products. The range of Fairtrade products is vast, from coffee and tea to chocolate, flowers, nuts, spices, wine, beer and cotton. There are now around 5,000 Fairtrade products available in the UK, many sold by co-operative retailers.
Meanwhile, two recent YouGov surveys commissioned by foundation found that almost nine in ten Britons value fair pay for farmers and workers and 69% say they have bought a Fairtrade product.
Asked why they buy Fairtrade, over half (54%) of respondents said it has a positive impact on the lives of farmers and workers. Around 85% of respondents said they thought farmers in low-income countries should receive stable and fair pay for their products.
The research also showed that Britain’s most popular Fairtrade buy is bananas (57%), closely followed by chocolate (54%) and coffee (43%).
Marie Rumsby, the foundation’s director of advocacy, said: “This Fairtrade Fortnight is extra special as we celebrate 30 years supporting farmers and working for global trade justice. Every Fairtrade purchase makes a difference to farmers’ lives, and we want to remind shoppers that when they next visit a supermarket, they choose products with the Fairtrade logo, as these ensure farmers receive fairer prices for their hard work and can invest in their families and communities.
“Fairtrade’s Minimum Price, Premium payments and Standards – and the fair prices they guarantee – mean farmers who produce our much-loved products like coffee, tea, bananas and chocolate can afford to put food on the table, send their children to school, cover their farm costs, and adapt to the changing climate.”
She added: “Without the stability a fairer trade system provides – and as farmers tell us climate change is making it harder to grow crops – it is more important now than ever to show solidarity so future generations of farmers will be able to continue farming. But choosing to buy Fairtrade products helps build their resilience to these global challenges and helps keep our favourite products on our supermarket shelves.”
Related: Fairtrade celebrates 30 years of campaigning in the UK
The surveys also revealed that climate change is a big concern for UK consumers, with four in every five respondents (79%) concerned about its potential effect on the price of food in the UK. Meanwhile, a similarly high number – 69% – are concerned about its potential effect on the supply of food in the UK.
Bananas are sensitive to changing rainfall and weather patterns, meaning that farmers can lose entire harvests when disaster strikes.
One Colombian Fairtrade banana farmer, Maria Doris Calvo Ortiz, recently told Fairtrade: “Sometimes, we feel like we can’t keep going, that we’ll have to give up. But then we remember the support we get from people choosing Fairtrade. It’s what keeps us going and allows us to take care of our families and our community, one banana at a time.”
Fairtrade works with more than two million farmers and workers in low-income countries including Silvia Herrera, a coffee grower from Mexico who is a member of co-operative Unión de Ejidos y Comunidades San Fernando in Chiapas, which is a supplier to Cafédirect.
“If coffee isn’t sustainable for farmers, there won’t be coffee to taste,” she says. “Farmers being on the Cafédirect board means we get to speak up and make our voices heard. Instead of just watching decisions have a big impact on our lives, we’re discussing what’s important.
“We’re right at the centre, not just watching from the sidelines.”
Through the Fairtrade certification, farmers get a Fairtrade minimum price as well as the Fairtrade Premium, paid into a communal fund for producers to improve the social, economic and environmental conditions of their businesses and communities. The majority of the Fairtrade producers are members of co-ops and benefit from the premium.
According to the Foundation, £1.7bn has been invested by producers in their businesses, farming, and communities through the Fairtrade Premium payments.
During the Fortnight, the Fairtrade Foundation arranged for billboards to be placed outside supermarkets in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester. The celebration is also an opportunity for retailers to run Fairtrade deals. For example, the Co-op Group is offering 10% discount on selected Fairtrade products for its members.
Products on offer in co-op stores include the Co-op Tilimuqui sparkling white wine, Seashells – Guylian chocolates, Ben & Jerry’s Sunny Honey Home icecream, Fairtrade Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts, and Brewgooder beer.
The foundation’s latest report reveals that between 1994 and 2022, producers have shared an estimated £1.7bn in Fairtrade Premiums. But the foundation thinks millions more farmer members of co-ops could benefit if trade rules were amended. To address this, the foundation is also launching a Be the Change challenge to the UK’s newly elected MPs. Fairtrade supporters are encouraged to run a Be the Change event during Fairtrade Fortnight and invite their MP – and to write to their MP to ask them to take the Be the Change pledge.
“Buying Fairtrade is essential, but shoppers can’t ‘be the change’ on their own: we need the support of businesses and government to transform our global trade system so that it supports the millions of farmers and workers who produce our food,” said Rumsby. “This Fortnight, we are calling on the UK public to join us in asking their newly elected MPs to pledge to ‘Be the Change’ to make trade fair, and for the new government to develop a trade policy that genuinely works for people and planet.”
Over 60% of YouGov respondents also said they believe politicians should be doing more to ensure farmers and other agricultural workers in low-income countries are paid fairly.
The foundation is also holding three Be the Change online events to connect with campaigners, Fairtrade farmers and other experts from around the world.
