We received a copy of the following letter (translated from the original Portuguese) from the Association of Fair Trade Producer Organizations of Brazil, sent last month to Paul Rice, President of Fair Trade USA
Boa Esperança, May 10th of 2012
Dear Mr. Rice,
The Fairtrade certified coffee producers in Brazil is writing this letter to express our dissatisfaction with the changes that are deploying Fair Trade USA since late 2011, and for entry and certification of large individual farms of coffee.
It is with great concern that we observe the commitment of the Fair Trade USA to promote the product from large farms, on the grounds of wanting to bring the benefits of Fair Trade label workers on large farms. We understand the great challenges facing the market and the current needs of the growing Fair Trade label. But consider that there are many other alternatives to achieve this goal without jeopardizing smallholder farmers.
The system of large-scale production is one factor that makes the highly competitive large farms with low production costs and the ability to offer coffee at low prices in the market, becoming a major threat to small producers, Fairtrade label. Another factor is that large farms are already holding other certifications that already guarantee that your product has a large percentage of the market, so the Fairtrade seal for them would be unnecessary.
The family farm, according to the IBGE 2006 census, produces approximately 34% of coffee from Brazil, worked by landowners and by partners and tenants. According to the Brazilian reality, only 1% of this total has been certified to Fairtrade label, which currently has 6,000 families and involved some 24,000 workers directly benefit from, promoting local development, improve the quality of life of the producer in its surroundings, and posting financial resources in their region. Being a high probability of growth with small producers in Brazil.
The Fairtrade certification organizations of small producers has shown its benefits to the community in recent years.
The distribution of revenue from the sale of Fairtrade-labeled coffee, among owners of small properties, partners, tenants and workers has boosted the region and developed areas in the environmental, health, education and quality of life, thanks to the aggregation of turnover values and with the investment of the award. Instead, the certification of large individual farms concentrates proceeds from the sale of coffee in a single owner and no longer in the hands of a few workers.
In our view, these changes threaten the most precious value of a family farmer: Being the owner of his own land, enhancing the fruit of your work, keep your family around a single ideal and food stamp along with the dreams and ideals producing property and quality of life. The professionalization of the small producer is also helping to maintain our youth in the region, managing small agricultural enterprises and participating in associations and cooperatives.
When we manifest our dislike and disgust with the current design of the Fair Trade USA, we would like to make clear, the appreciation and respect we have always had for your organization. We are grateful to FAIR TRADE USA for work, that was developed with us small coffee producers, adding their efforts and resources in partnership with other organizations in our development and growth.
Given the potential growth of family farming in Brazil, we recommend that efforts and investments are Fairtrade USA in expanding the Fairtrade seal for family farmers are not yet certified.
BR Fair – Fairtrade Association Representative Groups of Brazil, is positioned against the certification of large individual farms, because it represents, defends and ensures that the Fairtrade seal in Brazil never lost its essence, it is the only certification in the world allows families of small producers to market fairly the fruits of his labor.
Strengthening Co-ops while broadening Fair Trade’s Impact to include all Farmers:
Fair Trade USA’s response to Equal Exchange’s posting of a letter from an Association of Fair Trade Producers
Yesterday, Equal Exchange posted a letter sent to Fair Trade USA by the Association of Fair Trade Producer Organizations of Brazil, one of the many producer groups with whom we work. While the letter was dated May 10, we did not receive it until June 12 and so we are just now able to provide a response.
Fair Trade USA is a mission-driven, non-profit organization. We strive to empower farmers and workers to fight poverty, improve their lives and protect the environment.
I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify the confusion that exists around Fair Trade USA’s work to strengthen cooperatives while broadening the Impact of Fair Trade to include all farmers.
1. Fair Trade USA greatly respects the opinions of this producer group and at the same time it’s important to understand there are others in the Fair Trade Movement who believe action must be taken to reach the 90% of farmers who are not in co-ops. We acknowledge that there is some debate within the Fair Trade Movement: should we maintain the status quo or carefully innovate for greater impact? Our efforts to provide more impact to more people have been supported by farmers, farm workers, industry and NGOs – see the letters from our supporters at http://www.fairtradeforall.com/call-to-action. These stakeholders agree with Fair Trade USA’s approach to both strengthen co-ops while slowly, carefully and transparently piloting Fair Trade standards with new groups of independent small farmers and farm workers. These stakeholders have supported our efforts to encourage open, honest and respectful dialogue while making tangible differences in the lives of farming families who historically have been excluded from Fair Trade.
2. Fair Trade USA has been, and continues to be, 100% committed to strengthening co-ops. Since 2006, Fair Trade USA and its partners have invested over $7.4 million in programs to strengthen small-scale farming communities in projects spanning sugar, cocoa, produce, tea and coffee. Building on this deep history of development work, in 2011 we took an invigorated new approach, called “Co-op Link,” helping co-ops improve quality, increase productivity, access capital cost-effectively and become stronger business partners. This in turn will help co-ops become more competitive, increase their ability to successfully partner with US companies, grow their sales and profitability, and deliver more impact to their members. In 2011 alone, Fair Trade USA raised $2 million for programs to address the needs of cooperatives, working with NGOs and local service providers to execute programs, while facilitating an additional $3 million in affordable trade finance loans for co-ops.
3. Fair Trade USA has had a strong, ongoing commitment to Brazilian co-ops. Over the past five years, Fair Trade USA and our partners have directly invested over $2.5 million to strengthen Brazilian Fair Trade co-ops, focusing on improving the quality and quantity of their Fair Trade Certified coffee. We have also helped create market linkages between U.S. businesses and Brazilian co-ops. Together, these efforts have contributed to a record 9 million pounds of Brazilian Fair Trade Certified coffee imported into the US in 2011 alone.
4. Fair Trade USA is slowly, carefully and transparently conducting a small number of pilots to determine how we might include independent small farmers and farm workers in the benefits of Fair Trade. We are taking rigorous, international Fair Trade standards that already exist for independent small farmers and farm workers in categories such as bananas, tea, and flowers, and adapting them for coffee. Our first farm worker pilot is with a 500 acre, family-owned organic coffee farm in Brazil, where farm workers are already seeing impact. After becoming the world’s first Fair Trade Certified coffee estate in January 2012, the farm’s 110 workers democratically elected to invest their Fair Trade community development premiums in eye and dental care. Many workers just received their very first pair of eyeglasses. One of our implementation partners in this pilot is the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), who is helping us design worker training and empowerment programs. Our first independent small farmer pilot includes 150 small-scale farmers in Southern Colombia. These farmers are developing community based that will enable them to sell their coffee as a group, gain greater market access and business training, and receive Fair Trade community development premiums for their coffee. We are implementing these pilots with care and assessing the results at the individual farm level as well as the macro level, monitoring U.S. sales made by historic coffee co-ops to ensure they are expanding their sales and benefits as the Fair Trade movement expands overall.
Fair Trade USA understands that in times of growth and change there is often uncertainty, and we encourage open, honest, and respectful debate. I would encourage those who are interested in learning more to visit http://www.FairTradeForAll.com. We continue to invest in and support co-ops to ensure they remain strong and competitive now and in the future, while simultaneously carefully innovating so we can deliver more impact to more people.
Thank you for your interest in Fair Trade,
Mary Jo Cook, Chief Impact Officer, Fair Trade USA