Essay Example on Fair Trade Coffee: Flaws, Objectives, and Principles

Haight (2011), wrote an article "The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee" where she explains primary objectives and principles of Fair-Trade corporate archetypal. She indicates several flaws that relate to Fair Trade coffee. Additionally, the author shows how the Fair Trade provides better exchange environments for the deprived farmers, whereas revealing faults and how these defects are disturbing the Fair Trade in relations of economic and reliability lookout. Some of these flaws include: first is the high coffee price. Other defects are the inadequacy to change the position of more unfortunate in the farming society and the transparency in business dealing. Therefore, the text will critically analyze the flaws related to Fair Trade coffee and its effects on farmers.

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Colleen Haight, in the article, clarifies that fair trade is a trading corporation founded on merits of respect and transparency, that offers equal opportunity for the underprivileged farmers. Similarly, the author tells readers how the enterprise project donates to the justifiable progress of the small-scale workers in more deprived regions. The author mentions the historical background associated with the firm and how modification of the firm affected farmers in the coffee sector, particularly in developing nations in the 1960s. Though, besides the benefits of Fair Trade, several flaws come with this corporate model.

The author states that one of the utmost severe challenges concerning the Fair-Trade is the high coffee price. Denis Macray indicates that "For some cooperatives, the Fair-Trade price becomes the ceiling, not the floor...Many Fair-Trade buyers do not see a reason why they should pay any more than the fair-trade price for the value that is Fair Trade." (Haight, 2011). Thus, due to the comparatively high process of coffee, most farmers' want to trade their high-quality coffee to the firms lowers, that generates issues of low-quality coffee. Hence the selling of low-quality coffee to trades has damaged the image of the Fair Trade within the market. Many coffee roasters and importers are not engaging with Fair Trade because of the problem with coffee quality within the corporate model. Furthermore, if the firm does not obtain firms or people to buy their produce, they will not be sustainable, and later they will fail eventually.

The second vital flaw mentioned by the author is the inadequacy to modify the most unfortunate position within the farming society. Although there are rules concerning the Fair Trade like slight labour values, and prohibiting child labour, their main emphasis with these guidelines is beneficiary, and primarily small farmer Hence it pays attention to the poor workers and farmers but not in the broad scope. It is because cooperation does not consider the most impoverished workers and farmers. Consequently, it is contradictory with the corporate model, that provides improved working and trading environments for small-scale and poor farmers while not considering the real thing (most impoverished and the migrant farmers).

In that, the small farmers within the region end up employing the migrants to harvest for them bring about the point that the aids for the cooperation do not reach the migrant's workers. it is seen when she stated that "yields are so low on a small farm and its family-run, the migrant's labourer issues are not as relevant." (Haight, 2011). For example, most of the small farmers who sell Fair Trade Coffee employee the migrants' workers for harvesting of the coffee, especially from Panama and Nicaragua.

Another flaw stated by the author in the article is transparency in industrial dealings. For better communication between individual farmers and cooperatives, FLO principles need a significant number of record-keeping, which will certify that farmers obtain vital information regarding the company's sales. Colleen remarks that "This record-keeping has proven to be a hurdle in some cases. In addition to being time-consuming, it has also raised language and literacy barriers." (Haight, 2011). Many of the farmers in emerging nations are illiterate. Hence, making it unbearable to obtain and keep records in a good way. It is because the small farmers most of them do not know how to write even their names; hence they are unable to keep good records bringing about a lack of transparency in the business dealing. For example, since documents are not maintained, one finds out that premium is found and farmers do not know where their money is going. Instead of cooperation building schools in the community, they use part of the funds to build an excellent facility for the cooperation.

Despite the model's limitations, it is still vital and useful due to various reasons. First, the model provides better and fair working conditions for the workers and at the same time making the farmers to enjoy fair salaries. Likewise, Fair Trade bans enforced child labour, and it's right in relations to community development schemes where the cooperate farmers and workers invest in premiums to develop useful projects such as scholarships, schools, hospitals, etc. within the community. Finally, the model is appropriate since it is environmentally approachable due to the prohibition of the usage of harmful chemicals that achieves a sustainable environment. Hence the model should be implemented and adapted and cooperatives to ensure to take advantage of the mode and learn from the limitations by finding strategies of solving the challenges they are facing.

Reference

Haight, C. (2011). The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved from https:/ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee