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FairTrade ?

Fair Trade is fundamentally a tool to deliver sustainable livelihoods and development opportunities to people in the poorest countries, whose economies were disrupted by the evolution of conventional trade. It involves a trading partnership, which is based on dialogue, transparency and respect, and which seeks greater equity in international trade.

Geofairtrade at a glance

What is Geofairtrade project about ?

It will require the cooperation of Research and Technology Developers (RTD) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to develop new social, economic and environmental indicators based on geographic data. This will lead to Transparency and Traceability to the whole product chain from the producers to the consumers.

Who will benefit ?

Fair Trade Producers will be able

  • to present their production environment as far as the agricultural and/or production conditions are concerned
  • to explain the socio-economic implications of their fair trade endeavours

Consumers of fair trade products will

  • understand the underlining principles of solidarity related to sustainable development
  • see the direct implications of their purchasing pattern on the livelihood of identifiable groups of producers and or workers
  • be motivated to look for specific products and foster therefore the trade with fair trade products

Who should be interested?

All stakeholders involved directly or indirectly in Fair Trade Products, namely:

  • Governmental and non-governmental organisations dealing with sustainable development in developing countries
  • Civil society organisations promoting sustainable development and supporting fair trade products
  • Commercial operators distributing fair trade products
  • Legislative bodies, administrations and institutions, which are setting market rules, which are insuring a fair competitions among operators and which protect consumers from misleading allegations

Why?

The project will set objective, goal oriented standards of sustainable development with well defined and measurable social, environmental criteria. These criteria will be documented through dynamic geographic indicators.

It is important to trace down all products from the market place to their origin in order to avoid ano-nymity of the market. This traceability will enhance the confidence of the consumers in their inten-tion to support sustainable development of rural communities.

How?

The project is based on 4 actions

  1. Selection of sustainable development indicators with a spatial component and related to the social, economic and environmental dimensions of Fair Trade.
  2. Adaptation to the Geo-Traceability Integrated System Concept, set-up in previous EU funded research projects to the needs of Fair Trade actors.
  3. Validation this approach with five case studies chosen by the CSOs.
  4. Development of training and educative tools to disseminate this approach.