In today’s society we’ve shifted away from this personalized
shopping experience. Now Walmart and other big brand names are replacing the
small local producers and sellers. Money now shifts from the consumers’ pockets
to the national headquarters hundreds of miles away. You no longer see the
faces of who’s receiving your money, except maybe on T.V.
Globalization, thankfully, has led to an increase in the
Fair Trade market because it is now easier for producers to get their products
directly to the consumers. One of the negative externalities of globalization
however is the depersonalization of production and consumption. The producers
no longer see the faces of the people buying their products and vice versa. I
really dislike using clichés and I am about to be really hypocritical to
anyone’s writing I’ve ever proofread, but, “out of sight…out of mind.”
Consumers don’t realize the effect they can have on the producers life by buying
their product. They don’t see the great dependence these people have on your
support.
Here at Amani Fair Trade, we do see this. Just a couple of
weeks ago one of our producers in India was devastated by a massive flood. We
got an email from his representative saying he would really appreciate a new
order to help him and his family get back on their feet. Even our small student
run company can have such a massive impact on this man’s life half way across
the world. It’s without reminders like these that many consumers might forget
about the impact their choice in product makes. It’s a lot easier going for the
name brand or cheaper product when you don’t have the image of an impoverished
family dependent on their small business on your mind.
So for that reason I would like to introduce you to some of the
faces of Fair Trade:
1) The Independent Artisan
Source—Bir
Bahadur Bishwakarma started producing copper crafts at the age of 9, carrying
on the tradition of his Nepalese ancestors. After 25 years of working as a
coppersmith, he was given the opportunity to train on metal sheets at the
Balaju Mechanical Centre in Nepal, where he learned the skills to expand his
trade. Now, at the age of 47, he and his brother employ 20 artisans, mostly
coppersmiths who come from the low-income segment of the community. By creating
these jobs, Bir Bahadur has been able to improve economic conditions for his
whole community while, on a personal level, also paying for his son’s education
and for his daughter’s wedding.
2) The Small Family Business
Source—These
leather bags are designed by Theodoro Quispe Lupa, in Cusco, Peru. He comes
from a heritage of leather workers, and now runs a small family business from
his home village which employs 7 people.
They hand make approximately 10 bags a day using traditional skills. The
bags all incorporate traditional Incan textiles woven from alpaca fiber.
3) The Community Cooperative
Source—Founded in
1990 by a multinational group of young entrepreneurs, Caribbean Craft —formerly known as Drexco—promotes employment in
Haiti by training unskilled - but often highly gifted - craftspeople, and by
assisting the independent artisans through the introduction of new designs and
new market outlets. Unemployment in Haiti, the poorest country of the American
hemisphere, is variously estimated at between 60 and 80%.
The organization has gone
through rough times during the past years, marked by political troubles and
economic difficulties including a 3-year long embargo on all Haitian exports.
Drexco saw in 1997 its premises totally ransacked and then destroyed during
gang violence. Relocated in a higher-security industrial park, the organization
currently employs 400 artisans either as salaried employees or outside
contractors, with roughly equal numbers of men and women.
Caribbean Craft’s specialty
is the brightly colored, artistically hand-painted home décor objects, which
can be purely decorative, such as wall hangings , or consist of objects useful
in the home, like switch plates and magnets. The natural artistic talents of
the Haitians are well known, and many of these hand-painted pieces are truly
works of art.
4) The Large Scale Fair Trade Exporter
Source—Turqle
is an umbrella organization that enables fair and ethical export trade by
providing the vital linkage services – those services and expertise that would
be too expensive for individual small to medium sized companies to employ.
Most of our customers
also require a higher than normal level of environmental reporting, and
managing all the social responsibility aspects takes time and expertise.
It is often the
inability of manufacturers to maintain these 'links' - particularly in the fair
trading context - that make sustainable trade difficult for customers.
Operationally,
Turqle is self-funded - we do not own production facilities and do not sell our
own brand in the local market.
