Definition
Fair Trade is a popular social and economic movement that seeks to increase equity between developed and developing countries (Nicholls and Opal 2004). This is done through a market-based model that leverages mainstream economic structures to benefit of producers rather than to alter the underlying the market mechanisms within which free trade operates. A number of third-party organizations certify products as Fair Trade, with nearly 1.2 million producers worldwide participating in Fair Trade programs. The brand is well-known to consumers in the United Kingdom, though certified products are expanding rapidly within the USA and globally. While originally focused on handicrafts, the main commodities certified through Fair Trade programs are coffee, cocoa, textiles, and increasingly, fresh fruit such as bananas. While the growth and expansion of the movement theoretically contributes to improved social relations and global environmental health, the scale and complexity of the...
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Bernstein, J. (2019). Fair Trade. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Responsible Consumption and Production. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_74-1
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