Can fair trade resolve the “hungry farmer paradox”?

Ninon Sirdey () and Sylvaine Lemeilleur
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Ninon Sirdey: UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement

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Abstract: AbstractFair trade (FT) schemes claim to improve food security by generating economic gains for certified households. Previous research has shown that FT-certified households may benefit from higher prices and incomes. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of FT for food security. In this paper, we use qualitative data, cross-sectional household surveys conducted among coffee-growing households in Peru and matching econometric methods to investigate whether economic gains resulting from FT are enough to ensure food security for farming households. Results show that although FT increased the return from certified coffee (prices, production, yields and net return), the extent of the food insecurity facing FT participants remained unchanged. Our qualitative results suggest that farming households use the additional income they receive from FT to pay for their children's higher education as a long-term non-farm investment. This leakage effect raises the question of the effect of FT in the medium and long term from a rural development perspective.

Keywords: Fair trade; Food security; Impact; Coffee; Peru (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-int
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Published in Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, 2021, 102 (1), pp.81-106. ⟨10.1007/s41130-021-00137-z⟩

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Journal Article: Can fair trade resolve the “hungry farmer paradox”? (2021)
Journal Article: Can fair trade resolve the “hungry farmer paradox”? (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03599207

DOI: 10.1007/s41130-021-00137-z

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