"Agriculture is undoubtedly the most important activity for the majority of the world’s poor, and at the same time it is the most protected sector in industrial countries" (Mlachila, 2010). Agriculture continues to play an important role throughout the world, while in recent years, farmers have been negatively and positively affected by the trade agreements established by both the WTO and Fair Trade system; specifically the banana and coffee farmers. The government's role was to liberalize trade by reducing tariffs and they initiated this by introducing GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs). This was an agreement between countries that slowly expanded to include countries. Agricultural Trade was left out of the GATT due to the U.S. and European Union "banana war." This is a trade dispute between the US and EU on how the bananas are sourced and imported, even though neither one of these countries are the banana growers. The GATT was later re-established as the WTO (World Trade Organization). As Weis stated, "The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) came into effect in 1995 and constitutes a major landmark in the development of the global food economy as its set in place, for the first time, multilateral rules restricting the sovereignty of governments to establish their own agricultural policies" (Weis, 2007). Their focus was to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system, while their objective was to entrench and extend the rights of transnational capital in trade and investment, doing so by reducing unnecessary barriers to trade and discriminatory trade practices of governments. Unfortunately, the WTO had a difficult time satisfying these goals. The Fair Trade system, on the other hand, was "intro...
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...ved from http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/black-gold-illustrates-coffee-farmers-plight/
Parvathi, P. (2013). Fair trade and organic agriculture in developing countries: A review. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08974438.2013.736043
Silva, S. (2010). Fairtrade, the windward islands and the changing eu banana regime. Retrieved from http://www.secretariat.thecommonwealth.org/files/228967/FileName/THT74_e-copy.pdf
Taylor, P. (2010). The future of fair trade coffee: dilemmas facing latin america's small-scale producers. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614520600562397
Weis, T. (2007). The global food economy: The battle for the future of farming. Black Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
World Trade Organization, W. (2001). Trade liberalisation statistics. Retrieved from http://www.gatt.org/trastat_e.html
Wright, L. T., & Heaton, S. (2006). Fair Trade marketing: an exploration through qualitative research. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14(4), 411-426. doi:10.1080/09652540600948019
O’Hara, Sabine U., and Sigrid Stagl. "Global Food Markets and their Local Alternatives: A Socio-Ecological Economic Perspective." Population and Environment 22.6 (2001): pp. 533-554. Web.
...struggling to earn any income at all and sometimes do not even get the opportunity to eat. Another issue that Raj Patel did not touch on is the lack of care consumers have for the farmers. It seems that consumers care about farmers about as much as the corporations do, which, in my opinion, is not a lot. When consumers only care about low prices and large corporations only care about making a profit, the farmers are left out to dry. Many consumers believe “food should be available at a bargain price, a belief that relies on labor exploitation and environmental exhaustion at multiple points along the commodity chain.” (Wright, 95) Corporations as well as consumers generally tend to be selfish and I think Raj Patel is afraid to mention this. If only these people cared a little bit more about each other I believe the hourglass of the food system will begin to even out.
Key Question) – How does the global trade in bananas reflect injustice in free trade arrangements?
"Market Access for Goods: A Uruguay Round Summary for Developing Country Exporters." International Trade Forum.1 (1995): 4. ProQuest. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Although Fair trade has been presented as a solution to the exploitation of coffee laborers, it isn’t a perfect solution. Though, it is clear that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages when the suffering of the other farmers is seen. Even after those laborers were freed of slavery, they weren’t exactly treated much differently. If this is what is happening to the laborers of this commodity, what is happening to those forced to work in the industry of sugar, petroleum, tea, etc?
Gonzalez, Carmen G. "Institutionalizing Inequility: The WTO Agreement on Agriculture, Food Security and Developing Countries." Columbia Journal of Enviromental Law (2002): 431-487.
Fair Trade is an organization that helps certify farmers get the right amount of money for their products. It was founded in 1992, the headquarters is in London, England, UK. Fair trade is a non profitable organisation. Without Fair Trade; the shops and the investors will get profit but the farmer won't. Fair Trade helps the farmers have a safe vision of the amount of profits they will get.
Diao, Xinshen, Terry Roe and Agapi Somwaru. “Developing Country Interests in Agricultural Reforms Under the World Trade Organization.” American Journal of Economics v.84, n3 (August 2002): 782-90
The concept of Fair Trade coffee is great in theory but it was interesting to shin the light on exactly what it entails to be “fair trade certified” and whether or not it is actually beneficial and/or more “fair” to growers. In Starbucks’ “Fiscal 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report,” Starbucks defines CSR as conducting business in ways that produce social, environmental and economic benefits for the communities in which we operate and for the company’s stakeholders, including shareholders. Starbucks has taken more steps than simply accepting the full principles of Fair Trade. Besides adhering to the purchase of “Fair Trade” coffee, Starbucks is also committed to building a resilient supply chain through partnerships. Climate change represents significant immediate and long-term risks to coffee farmers around the world, and Starbucks is looking at its potential impacts with organizations such as CI. As a result of this work, Starbucks has incorporated agricultural methods into C.A.F.E. Practices that help reduce emissions, improve carbon storage through shade and conservation areas, and proactively manage climate risks from pests and disease. Also, in 2014, Starbucks made a series of origin community grants, funded by sales of their Ethos Water brand, to support critical infrastructure improvements and agricultural diversification projects. For example, in Tanzania, they’re working with Heifer International
The developed world’s love affair with local/organic farming (peasant farming as Collier describes it) has decreased food production worldwide because it does not use the land efficiently enough as with commercial agriculture companies. It also requires government subsidies that large commercial farming companies do not necessarily need. By increasing commercial farming, the world food supply will inevitably increase over a short period.
What is free trade? Many American’s have a broad and sometimes-false idea of what free trade actually is. Free trade “refers to the economic philosophy and practice of reducing barriers such as tariffs, taxes, subsidies and quotas so that raw materials, goods and services can move unhampered across national borders.” (68) Various options have arisen about whether or not free trade benefits developing counties or not. I believe that free trade is not favorable or helpful towards developing counties. Free trade benefits few but not the masses, is in favor of rich companies with large corporations, means a loss of power and political control on a national, regional and local levels of government, as well as allows for child labor and there for loses out economically. Many people here in the United States are not well informed about Free Trade or its drawbacks. By giving people the information and steering them toward a better form of trade such as Fair Trade we could possible help those other counties that are dealing with the effects of free trade.
Another economist Douglas Irwin wrote a book titled “Against the Tide”. The book is an Intellectual History of Free Trade; it is an interesting, educational account of how free trade appeared and of how the concept of free trade has coped with two centuries of attacks and criticism.
Fair Trade is considered as an alternative trading system, which aims to protect the economically disadvantaged producers, especially in developing countries. It provides transparency and respect in international trade (Gingrich and King, 2012). Besides, Fair Trade also contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions for marginalised producers and workers and securing their rights (Mohan, 2010).
Two common products that are Fair Trade Certified are Cocoa and Coffee, each of which contains problems that producers face but gain benefits from Fair Trade. Fairtrade International states that cocoa is grown in tropical regions of more than 30 developing countries, such as West Africa and Latin America, providing an estimate of 14 million people with livelihood. Fair Trade Standards for cocoa includes no forced labor of any kind - including child labor and environmental standards restricts the use of chemicals and encourage sustainability. A problem cocoa producers face is the lack of access to markets and financing. Since cocoa is a seasonal crop, producers need loans to meet the needs for planting and cultivating their crop. With this in mind,...