Is Fair Trade equal to Organic?

Fair trade products are those certified to have been produced according to certain standards. The label seeks to help farmers and workers (especially in the global south) to alleviate poverty, build stable marketing channels and provide access to new tools easily.

Fair trade is a labelling initiative that actually ensures fairness in trade which means that it provides better terms of trade to producers for the goods they produce.

They offer their labels based on economic, environmental and social criteria satisfaction. By offering a higher minimum price than the market price for the product, they also ensure price stability. Besides, producers are encouraged to organize in cooperatives or workers organizations for better control over their businesses.

50% of Fairtrade is owned by producers like farmers and workers themselves. Fairtrade also offers premiums that help farmers undertake infrastructure improvements or community development projects like education. For instance, Fairtrade certified coffee gets a price of 1.40$/ lb with an additional 0.20$/lb in the form of a premium. When the coffee is organic, it also gets an additional 0.30$/lb!

There is a common misunderstanding that all fair-trade products are organic. However, being organic is not an absolute requirement of being Fair trade. Although Fair trade products uses minimal pesticides and is non-GMO, only nearly 50% of fair-trade products are also fully organic!

Fair trade also actively intervenes to ensure that their labelled products are sustainably produced. There has been a case where Fair trade worked with the producers and governments in Belize to get rid of child labor in the supply chain of sugar.

Fair trade offers stable market links and resources to producers. On the other side of the supply chain, it provides consumers with trustable and traceable product options which have high social and environmental standards. By enabling farmers to be equipped with tools like new seed varieties, they have also been able to help them fight challenges like climate change.