Paper short abstract:

Fair-trade is an increasingly prominent certification meant to “give farmers a better deal,” making their work, livelihoods, and the workplace of the farm more sustainable. This paper uses ethnographic data to examine the social effects of fair-trade production and the future of this model for the work of farming.

Paper long abstract:

Fair-trade certification has emerged as a mechanism meant to mitigate rising inequalities, support smallholder farmers within global supply chains, and “give farmers a better deal.” Aligned with “trade not aid” models, fair-trade certification is a global trade intervention aiming to make the workplace of the smallholder farm more sustainable. Given the growth of the fair-trade sector globally, it is perhaps surprising that fair-trade organisations admit that most of their cocoa farmers in West Africa make well below a living wage. Specifically, research has shown that fair-trade does not have a significant impact on the livelihoods and welfare of cocoa farmers in Ghana. Despite this research, the fact that fair-trade cocoa is a growing sector and produced by a hundred thousand smallholder farmers in Ghana suggests that participation in fair-trade cooperatives holds meaning for farmers’ everyday lives. This paper draws on ethnographic research to explore the social impacts of fair-trade and in what ways it does, and does not, provide a fairer workplace for farmers and their families. Moreover, younger generations and the children of smallholder cocoa farmers generally choose to leave the farm to seek opportunities in urban settings. This research also offers insights into the future and sustainability of fair-trade models of production if they are unable to attract younger generations to farming as a desirable work and livelihood. Examining the potential of fair-trade, this paper offers insights into the allure, contestations, and potential of interventions that seek to support and protect farmers and the work of farming within global agriculture trade systems.