Is Fairtrade in commercial farms justifiable? Its impact on commercial and small-scale producers in South Africa

Bridget Jari, Jeanette D. Snowball and Gavin C.G. Fraser

Agrekon, 2013, vol. 52, issue 4, 66-88

Abstract: Fairtrade initially was limited to improving the lives of small-scale and peasant farmers, but later on it embraced commercial farmers, which attracted criticism. While there are a number of justifications for the Fairtrade organization's decision, there are authors who feel that meaningful “fair trade” cannot be achieved with the inclusion of commercial farms. This paper investigates the impact of Fairtrade on commercial farms and small-scale farmer cooperatives in South Africa. Fairtrade on South African commercial farms embraces a number of policy concerns related to land reform, BEE and sustainable development. The results of the study show that when commercial farms are included in the Fairtrade model, communities in which these farmers live benefit from developmental projects. In addition, in some instances, farm workers gain shares in the commercial farms, and benefit from the farm owners’ knowledge and capital.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1080/03031853.2013.847036

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