Even farmers supported by the Fairtrade Foundation are getting a raw deal from the current supply chain, as rising food prices mean they are left as net losers.
This was the conclusion of a debate at last week’s Fairtrade Foundation conference in London, where it was revealed that the rise in global food costs means that farmers given support through the Fairtrade Foundation are still losing out, as food costs outstrip their income.
Mark Curtis, academic journalist and author of the report The Global Food Crisis and Fairtrade: Small Farmers, Big Solutions?, said: “How is it that most of the world’s farmers are worse off at the moment, even with Fairtrade backing, because of rising food prices?
“At the moment, we have a messy mix of protectionism and liberalised policies full of middlemen, and the farmers are not involved.
“Most Fairtrade growers are smaller farmers supporting their families, buying more food than they actually sell. How is it they can actually do worse from the increased world food prices? Stable food prices are critical at this time.”
Curtis’s report also highlights a number of areas of decline, including levels of northern hemisphere government aid to agriculture - which have “collapsed” from $7.6 billion (£5.3bn) in 1980, to just $3.9bn in 2006 - African governments’ spending on agriculture, which has dropped to just four per cent, as well as mounting concerns over the decreased involvement of smallholders in decision-making.
Fairtrade Foundation patron and BBC journalist George Alagiah told FPJ: “I think Fairtrade is the one thing that will not go away. We don’t think the public will allow people to just forget it. There is no question about it, people are not just talking about it here - it is a major aspect of the world market.
“I have seen what Fairtrade can do first hand and I was surprised to find out that even Fairtrade farmers can suffer from being net buyers of food. It is something that has to change. We need to look at the ways we give aid to try to tackle this.
“It is great that consumers want value with their values and I think if the focus remains on the consumer, rather than the retailer, we will be doing the right thing,” he added.
Gareth Thomas, minister of state for trade and development, stressed to delegates that the Doha Development Round, aimed at freeing global trade and initiated almost a decade ago, was “far from dead”.
“The Doha Development Round is very important in kick-starting global trade, and extending the benefits of globalisation to developing countries is too important to give up on,” he said.
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