Fair Trade is a rapidly growing initiative that challenges historical global inequalities and seeks to improve the socio-economic conditions of marginalized producers and workers in the global South through the creation of fairer commodity chains for certified products. Existing research explores the dynamics of Fair Trade in coffee and its implications for peasant producers. Yet Fair Trade's most rapid growth is now in commodities, such as flowers, which are produced by large enterprises using hired workers. There has to date been little research on the nature of these new commodity chains or their impacts on hired laborers, a significant share of whom are women. This project addresses this research gap, analyzing three key questions: (1) What types of commodity and non-commodity ties exist in global Fair Trade flower chains and how have Ecuadorian plantations been integrated into these networks? (2) How successful has Fair Trade, which was designed to address the conditions of peasant producers, been at promoting partnerships with worker organizations and improving the conditions of workers employed by certified plantations? (3) How does Fair Trade effect gender dynamics on certified plantations and what are the implications of certification how female as well as male workers?
This project pursues a multi-level multi-method approach and entails 5 months of field research in Ecuador. It analyzes world Fair Trade flower markets, the Ecuadorian plantations supplying those markets, and the conditions of workers on those plantations. Research methods combine document reviews, ethnographic observations, 60-75 semi-structured interviews with Ecuadorian and US Fair Trade network actors, plantation managers, and worker organization leaders, focus groups with 40-56 female flower workers, and a random sample survey of 160 male and female workers. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, the study gains both depth and breadth of understanding of Fair Trade flower networks and socio-economic production conditions.
This study will provide the first detailed analysis of Fair Trade's impacts on plantation enterprises and gendered labor in Latin America. The project contributes to key debates within Sociology and related social science disciplines. It informs and advances theoretical and empirical understanding in three key areas. The research strengthens our understanding of globalization and new forms of regulation by focusing on an initiative that is both a social movement and a certification system. It provides insights into how global commodity chains operate, focusing on how alternative norms of fairness may be integrated into trade relations and participating organizations. And, it sheds light on the implications of Fair Trade for workers, exploring particularly the integration of female workers.
Broader Impacts
This project integrates research and education activities in training a US graduate student and working closely with counterparts in Ecuador. It broadens the participation of underrepresented groups, giving voice to Ecuadorian flower workers in general and female workers in particular. The project lays the groundwork for future collaborations between US and Latin American researchers. Data will be shared with Ecuadorian counterparts and with affiliates of the Center for Fair & Alternative Trade (CFAT) with documents added to the CFAT collection at Colorado State University. Project findings will be disseminated broadly to US and Ecuadorian academics, policy-makers, practitioners, and concerned citizens. The project will have strong societal impacts, providing access to needed information and pointing to avenues for strengthening existing programs that seek to ameliorate potential negative consequences of international trade.
Fair Trade seeks to improve both environmental and social conditions and foster more egalitarian trade relations via sales of certified items produced in the Global South. Although it was begun in small scale coffee production, Fair Trade’s most rapid growth is now in commodities, such as flowers, which are produced by large enterprises using hired workers. There has to date been little research on the nature of these new commodity chains or their impacts on hired laborers, a significant share of whom are women. This project addresses this research gap focusing on the situation of Fair Trade flowers produced in Ecuador largely for US markets. I focus on the flower industry because of its importance in global trade, its centrality in Fair Trade’s strategy of certifying plantations, and the key contrasts it provides to peasant based Fair Trade coffee production. I ground this analysis in a case study of Fair Trade certification of hired labor enterprises in Ecuador since, although a few studies focus on certified plantations in Africa, this is the first to systematically study the implications of plantation certification in Latin America. My research analyzes the Fair Trade flower markets, the Ecuadorian plantations supplying those markets, and the conditions of workers on those plantations. My analysis of the Fair Trade flower market finds that in many ways this resembles the conventional market. Unlike in peasant products where price guarantees bring significant benefits to producers, in Fair Trade products produced on a large scale, commodity pricing is not a key way to enhance equity since benefits would accrue largely to firm owners not workers. Liker conventional flower markets, certified markets are controlled by large retail buyers and ruled by exacting quality standards. While Ecuadorian flower company owners and managers support Fair Trade’s environmental and social goals, to satisfy their buyers they must prioritize product quality and cost concerns. My analysis finds that Fair Trade certified flower enterprises have significantly better environmental and social conditions than other enterprises. Fair Trade certification standards address a number of important ecological concerns, most importantly in the flower sector in pesticide-related environmental and worker-health problems. My research finds that while environmental and worker-health conditions on Fair Trade certified flower farms in Ecuador exceed legal mandates and industry norms, it is hard for export flower production to be sustainable. Turning to plantation social conditions, I find that it is in regards to worker wellbeing and empowerment that Fair Trade certification has its greatest impacts. Certification establishes labor standards which are in the case of Ecuadorian flowers above legal requirements and industry norms in important areas like restricting overtime, paid leave requirements, and anti-discrimination policies. In addition, Fair Trade certification makes available substantial funding for social programs in education, health care, and other areas which improve conditions for workers, their families, and communities. What appears to do the most to empower workers, particularly in a context like the Ecuadorian flower sector where unions are largely absent, is Fair Trade’s mandate that workers control the premium fund and that they have a Workers’ Committees to represent and defend their interests. Fair Trade requirements have fostered gender equity by promoting the interests of female as well as male workers and ensuring female workers’ representation in leadership positions. The findings from this research advance our understanding of certification as a form of international regulation, of the challenges in promoting fairness in international markets, and the implications of Fair Trade certification for workers. Research results are not just of academic interest, for there is broad interest among policymakers, practitioners, and concerned citizens in the challenges and potential of new initiatives that seek to bolster environmental and social conditions around the world.
