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Lecture 11 - Sustainable Development & FairTrade - March2023

Fair trade aims to improve livelihoods of food growers in developing countries through better prices and development opportunities. However, fair trade communications often portray farmers as dependent and in poverty. This case study examined organic farmers in Wayanad, India who created their own videos and stories about farming. Focus groups found farmers felt empowered having a voice, while consumers were surprised to learn of the farmers' wealth and yields. The farmers' self-representations challenged stereotypes and could support development by giving people confidence and motivation to continue sustainable practices.

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30 views

Lecture 11 - Sustainable Development & FairTrade - March2023

Fair trade aims to improve livelihoods of food growers in developing countries through better prices and development opportunities. However, fair trade communications often portray farmers as dependent and in poverty. This case study examined organic farmers in Wayanad, India who created their own videos and stories about farming. Focus groups found farmers felt empowered having a voice, while consumers were surprised to learn of the farmers' wealth and yields. The farmers' self-representations challenged stereotypes and could support development by giving people confidence and motivation to continue sustainable practices.

Uploaded by

sze wei wang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sustainable Development in Alternative

Food Networks: the case of Fair Trade

Dr Maria Touri, [email protected]


Part 1
Sustainable Development, Agriculture and the Global
Food Economy
The Green Revolution
× Development project promoted by international development
organisations and scientists to address famine, food shortages
and dependence on foreign aid.

× Initiated in Mexico, in the 1950s, with financial support from


the Rockefeller foundation and the USDA.
The Green Revolution
× Promoted:
× Diffusion of agricultural innovations
× Industrialisation and mechanisation

× Resulted in:
× Dependence of farmers on government subsidies and loans to
buy seeds and fertilisers
× Dependence of farmers in the Global South on global trade
× Environmental and soil degradation
The Green Revolution
A ‘Modernization’ Project

• Economistic discourse
• Emphasis on top down and linear technology and scientific
knowledge transfer
• Scientific arrogance
• Rejection of local/indigenous knowledge
Sustainable Development

‘Sustainable development is development


that meets the needs of the present,
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.” -
The Brundtland Report, 1987.
Sustainable Development Goals - Critiques

‘Sustainable Survival Goals’ (Sachs, 2018:


xiii),

‘Stupid Development Goals’


(The Economist, 2015)

‘Senseless, Dreamy, Garbled’ (Easterly,


2015).
Sustainable Development Goals - Critiques

× Designed by powerful global institutions – UN.

× Development/progress is in line with Western-


Northern growth.

× Top-down, bureaucratic, ignoring local context and


championing a ‘one size fits all’ approach to
development, progress and well-being.

× Promoting the conviction that economic growth and


technological progress will offer the solution to
environmental/well-being issues.
Part 2
Fairtrade and Development
The Fairtrade Movement
Social movement that champions the improvement of the
livelihoods and well-being of food growers in the Global South.
This is through:
× Paying producers a better price
× Promoting social justice, sound environmental practices, and economic
security
× Promoting development opportunities especially for women
and indigenous people
× Raising awareness about the negative effects of international
trade
Fairtrade Movement
14
15
Development in Fair Trade

▪ Development happens through:

• Higher profits due to the price premiums


• Purchases of consumers in the North
• Income generation for producers in the South

▪ Funding source/sponsor = consumers


Development in Fair Trade

Modernization Theory

× ‘Progress’ equals economic growth.

× The ‘powerful’ North (consumer) helps the ‘vulnerable’


South (producer)

17
Communication in Fair
Trade
× Commodifies farmers’ livelihoods.
× Uses poverty as ‘spectacle’.
× Portrays the Global South as dependent
on the intervention of the North – colonial
view of the world.
× The voice of the ‘subaltern’ is silenced.
Communication and development

Public communication and


discourses can become
internalised, and influence
people’s self-identity,
psychological resources and
capabilities.

24
The violence of communication and
language
Part 3
Case study: Organic Wayanad
Case Study – Organic Wayanad

• A consortium of farming groups in Wayanad,


Kerala
• Follows Fairtrade and organic principles
• Wayanad: a biodiversity hotspot, famous for its
climate, geography and the Wayanadan black
pepper
Case Study – Organic The Questions
Wayanad × How do farmers feel when they create their
own representations?

× What do consumers think when they see an


image of farmers that is different to
Fairtrade’s ‘poverty’ images?

The experiment and my role as researcher


× 20 videos and 10 written stories
× Focus groups with 76 farmers in Wayanad
× Focus groups with 50 consumers (Leicester
and London)
× January 2016 – August 2017
Not even an hour goes by without
agriculture in our life, or without
spending time with the plants we
love. This is regardless of the
season or weather conditions. So
our daily life starts and ends with
our farm. Agriculture is part of our
spirituality. This farm gives us
pleasure, love and goodness. And
we are giving the same back to the
world!
– Jayraman
The consumers…
These farmers were not poor, but
reasonably comfortably off in doing
what they were doing…

I was quite shocked at how


wealthy they appeared…

32
I had not realised just how many
organic alternatives there were, so
I’ve been educated…

They said that the yields have


gone up, so that’s something that
I found quite surprising…they’re
actually growing more crops than
you would think…

33
The farmers…
I’m very proud to have
taken part in this [project];
I felt that I have a voice and I I feel important
love talking about what I do
[and] my farming methods

Watching the videos, I


realised how much we
can teach the community
and fellow farmers
‘[Making] These videos gave us
opportunities to hear each other and
talk to each other more. Although the
community may make fun of us, such
videos can help us work more closely
35
Representation and Sustainable
Development
Self-representations can:
× Give people a voice
× Change discourses of development
× Change perceptions about the ‘powerful’ North and the ‘poor’ South

Self-representations can support development by giving people:


× Sense of solidarity
× Confidence and self-worth
× Inspiration and motivation to continue organic farming

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