Being part of a Fairtrade-certified producer organisation can improve farmers’ economic resilience, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability, according to a new study commissioned by Fairtrade Germany and Fairtrade Austria.
The study, Assessing the Impact of Fairtrade on Poverty Reduction and Economic Resilience through Rural Development, suggests that Fairtrade certification also leads to good governance in co-operatives.
And researchers found that Fairtrade standards, Fairtrade pricing, and producer support programmes positively impact certified farmers and their communities compared to non-Fairtrade certified farmers, particularly in times of difficulty and distress.
They examined the same producer organisations three times over 10 years, and studied the performance of a cocoa co-op in Ghana, a coffee co-op and three banana co-ops in Peru and found their farmers had higher earnings and more savings than those in comparable non-Fairtrade organisations. For example, coffee farmer members of the Fairtrade-certified La Florida co-op in Peru reported incomes 50% higher than those of non-Fairtrade farmers.
Read the rest at Co-operative News
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