Fairtrade Foundation calls on G20 leaders to Put People First
The Fairtrade Foundation is calling on G20 world leaders to take a fresh approach to global trade, with justice and equity for the world’s poor as a priority, when they meet in London next week.
The current crises that the world is facing– the economic crisis, the food crisis and the climate crisis – are having a devastating effect on small farmers and workers across the developing world. 450 million smallholder farming households cultivating two hectares or less are home to around two billion people – a third of humanity – and also home to half the world’s hungry people. Small farmers in the developing world are a crucial constituency in any strategy to mitigate the current crisis, and we are calling on world leaders, in their aid pledges, to ensure that investment in small farmer organisation, sustainable production and low-interest access to credit become a focus of agricultural policy and support. Read more about the challenges they face and the policies needed to overcome them in the Fairtrade Foundation’s report: The global food crisis and Fairtrade: Small farmers, big solutions?
The Fairtrade Foundation, along with fair trade organisations including Cafedirect, Divine, Traidcraft and People Tree and over 150 other organisations, is supporting the Put People First manifesto and public rally this Saturday 28 March, to highlight the issues of jobs, economic justice and climate in advance of the G20 meeting to address the global financial crisis starting on 2 April.
In particular, the Fairtrade Foundation, as a member of the Trade Justice Movement, backs the call to the UK government to stop pushing developing countries to liberalise their economies and not to rush through a completion of the WTO Doha trade round – a deal that developing countries have rejected several times due to concerns at the potential impact on their economies.
In view of the current crises we call on them to review trade liberalisation policies and reassess bilateral and regional trade agreements, recognising the need to ensure developing countries have the policy space they need to nurture infant industries and invest in crucial agricultural and food security sectors. In particular, evidence from several countries shows how deregulation and liberalisation of financial services industries have had a damaging impact for small farmers’ access to credit, and the WTO and EU should stop demanding liberalisation of these sectors in ongoing regional and multilateral trade negotiations. Northern countries should also resist a return to protectionism of their own markets, and accept the need for tariff-free market access for low-income countries on a non-reciprocal basis.
Barbara Crowther, the Fairtrade Foundation’s Director of Communications and Policy, says “The current crisis poses many new threats to the livelihoods of the poorest people on the planet. But they also offer an unprecedented opportunity for world leaders to develop a fresh approach to the global trading system, prioritising justice and equity, including social and environmental standards, and build new trade relationships, fit to deal with the current financial, food and climate crises we now face. A new approach to global trade must put poor people and the planet first, strengthening local and regional supply chains, and ensuring cooperation in fairer global trade at an international level.”
Find out more about the Put People First campaign here: www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk
Egg on world leaders to keep fair trade on their agenda at the G20 here: www.eggapolitician.com
Read more about the global food crisis and Fairtrade here: www.fairtrade.org.uk/conference
Keep up to date with Fairtrade Foundation news on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/fairtradeuk
For more information on the Fairtrade Foundation go to: www.fairtrade.org.uk
Please contact Faith Mall on 07825 827 791 for interviews.
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Notes to Editors
1. The FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label is now recognised by 70% of UK consumers and appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7.5 million people – farmers, workers and their families – across 58 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.
2. Over 4,500 products have been licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark including coffee, tea, herbal teas, chocolate, cocoa, sugar, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, avocados, apples, pears, plums, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, satsumas, clementines, mandarins, lychees, coconuts, dried fruit, juices, smoothies, biscuits, cakes & snacks, honey, jams & preserves, chutney & sauces, rice, quinoa, herbs & spices, seeds, nuts & nut oil, wines, beers, rum, confectionary, muesli, cereal bars, yoghurt, ice-cream, flowers, sports balls, sugar body scrub and cotton products including clothing, homeware, cloth toys, cotton wool and olive oil.
3. 7 in 10 households purchase Fairtrade goods, including an extra 1.3 million more households in 2008, helping Fairtrade sales reach an estimated £700m in 2008, a 43% increase on the previous year. There are over 460 producer organisations selling to the UK and by the end of October 2008 872 certified producer groups were in the global Fairtrade system, representing more than 1.5 million farmers and workers.