Impacts of fair trade certification on coffee farmers, cooperatives, and laborers in Nicaragua

This paper analyzes the possibilities and challenges of Fair Trade certification as a movement seeking to improve the well-being of small-scale coffee growers and coffee laborers in the global South. Six months of fieldwork was conducted in 2005–2006 to study the roles of a wide range of farmers, laborers, cooperative administrators, and export companies in Fair Trade coffee production and trade in Nicaragua. The results of our evaluation of the ability of Fair Trade to meet its objectives indicate that Fair Trade’s opportunities to provide a significant price premium for participating farmers largely depend on world coffee prices in mainstream markets. While Fair Trade has promoted premiums for social development for participating producers and strengthened the institutional capacities of the cooperatives involved, its ability to enhance significantly the working conditions of hired coffee laborers remains limited

The possibilities and constraints of improving livelihoods through apicultural development in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.Poverty and environmental degradation are intertwined problems in Madagascar. The need to protect Madagascar's unique nature and alleviate desperate poverty in rural areas has created the need to develop rural livelihoods. Beekeeping is one source of livelihood that can be developed to bring food and income in a way that causes minimal harm to environment. This thesis studies the possibilities and constraints of apicultural development in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. Using sustainable livelihoods approach as a theoretical framework the thesis studies the current forms of honey production and the possibilities to improve them. The likely impacts of apicultural development on rural poverty and conservation of biodiversity are studied. Social, cultural, economical and ecological factors affecting apicultural development are identified and discussed. The research is based on field work in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar and literature review on protected areas, bees and tropical beekeeping and the livelihoods of the rural poor. Several types of interviews were used: semi structured interviews, participant observation and PRA methods. Additionally honey samples were collected and analyzed and statistics on honey and beeswax exportation and importation were analyzed. Honey production is an important source of livelihood in Ranomafana National Park and it has a potential to become significantly more important. Current forms of honey production are profitable and require very little investments in terms of money and time. More advanced methods of beekeeping require higher inputs and would provide higher outputs. New and old methods of beekeeping will likely co-exist in Ranomafana National Park in the future. The major constraints and challenges for beekeeping are lack of infrastructure, poor transport conditions, undeveloped markets for, honey and other bee products and the inability of beekeepers to invest in beekeeping equipment. Some honey is currently imported to Madagascar. Madagascar should enforce its legislation that makes possible the prohibition of bee and honey imports. This would prevent importation of bee diseases and parasites into Madagascar. Additionally this would protect Madagascar's own honey production which at the moment can not compete in international honey markets

Fair Trade Coffee in Nicaragua : Impacts of Certified Production on Cooperatives, Farmers, and Laborers

The objective of this dissertation is to study the opportunities and challenges of the Fair Trade certification system in altering conditions of coffee production in Nicaragua. The aim is to analyze the advantages as well as the constraints of Fair Trade in assisting farmers and their cooperatives, involving them in the governance of coffee value chains and improving labor conditions. The study highlights the context of increased globalization, deregulation of coffee markets, and declining and volatile coffee prices. The research methods utilized were primarily qualitative. Seven months of fieldwork was carried out in Nicaragua in 2005-2006 and 2008 to interview and observe a wide range of actors in Fair Trade and conventional coffee production and trade. Value chain analysis and convention theory were utilized as theoretical frameworks to understand if Fair Trade can improve the position of small-scale farmers and hired workers as participants in the global economy. Through the lenses of value chain analysis Fair Trade is seen as a governance mechanism where multiple actors with diverse interests influence each other in their interactions in establishing rules and norms for conditions of production. The results indicate that Fair Trade has supported certified producer organizations particularly during the extremely low coffee prices in 2000-2004. However, Fair Trade is a limited market existing parallel to conventional trade. This results in farmers and cooperatives selling a large part of their production to conventional markets and market prices having a greater importance for them than Fair Trade-regulated prices. Since 2005, market prices have frequently been above or close to Fair Trade minimum prices, reducing the significance of Fair Trade- controlled prices. Certified farmers are vulnerable to price volatility also because when market prices are higher than Fair Trade minimum prices, the price volatility is the same for Fair Trade and conventional coffee. Fair Trade does not require that higher than market prices be paid to certified farmers. Prices and services offered by Fair Trade certified cooperatives to farmers have not remarkably exceeded those offered by conventional actors in Nicaragua. Although the minimum price system is a safety net in case of a future price collapse, the results of this research indicate that challenges exist in distributing benefits equally between and within producer organizations. The implementation of minimum prices also involves other practical challenges such as to what level prices should be set under constantly changing market prices. The physical quality characteristics of coffee affect its price and, because they are so varied, it is impossible to create a pricing system taking all these characteristics into consideration. The Fair Trade premium for social development has provided financing for cooperatives and farmers. While some of these funds have been targeted to pressing social needs, a large part of the funds have been used to finance improvements in producer organizations and to pay for certification fees, undermining the ability of these funds to focus on social issues. In addition to the Fair Trade social premium, cooperatives and farmers have been assisted by numerous development projects. As a result, infrastructure in cooperatives has improved. A possibility for making Fair Trade pricing more transparent for all actors in the value chain would be to make the social premium a percentage of retail price of Fair Trade products and to document more carefully its use in improving cooperative and farm infrastructure and management as well as its use to improve social conditions in coffee producing communities. Fair Trade has not significantly altered the working conditions of hired labor in coffee production in Nicaragua. Because the advantages Fair Trade offers to farmers and cooperatives are limited and vary in different contexts, the system cannot present strict demands on improved working conditions. The participation of farmers and workers in formulating Fair Trade policies is narrow, as evidenced by most of the interviewed farmers and hired laborers not knowing they were involved in producing Fair Trade coffee and what this entailed. Despite changes aimed at involving producer organizations in Fair Trade governance, Northern actors exercise the greatest control of the system. Approximately half of Fair Trade certified farmers are also organically certified, globally and in Nicaragua. Although the Fair Trade/organic farmers receive price premiums, the benefits of Fair Trade are not clear-cut. As experienced by the interviewed farmers, organic farming has lower yields, especially when higher intensity management systems are compared. As a result, price premiums do not necessarily lead to higher income compared to alternatives. Inequalities in the distribution of value creation are estimated to be higher in Fair Trade than conventional coffee in the case of coffee trade from Nicaragua to Finland. In absolute terms, Fair Trade has offered slightly higher prices to producer organizations particularly when Fair Trade minimum price has exceeded market prices. In view of the many difficulties coffee production has faced in Nicaragua in recent decades, Fair Trade certified cooperatives have been successful. Fair Trade can provide financing for development and reduce price risk. However, many other risks exist for farmers and cooperatives including loss of crops due to diseases or adverse weather conditions. If small-scale coffee production in cooperatives is to thrive, well-managed cooperatives and farms are needed. Many Fair Trade certified farmers produce low volumes of coffee. While price premiums are welcome, income from small quantity of coffee remains meager. As a result, some Fair Trade farmers are trapped in poverty.Kahvin Reilun kauppa Nicaraguassa Tutkimuksen päämääränä oli arvioida Reilun kaupan vaikutuksia osuuskunnille, viljelijöille ja työntekijöille Nicaraguassa. Väitöskirjaa varten tehtiin kenttätyötä Nicaraguassa vuosina 2005-2006 ja 2008 yhteensä seitsemän kuukautta. Tutkimuksen tulokset on julkaistu kansainvälisesti merkittävissä tieteellisissä journaaleissa vuosina 2009-2014. Tutkimuksessa arvioidaan Reilun kaupan hintamekanismien eli minimihintojen ja kehityshankkeita rahoittavan Reilun kaupan lisän käytännön toteutusta. Lisäksi huomion kohteena ovat palkatun työvoiman työolosuhteet, Reilun kaupan viljelijöille tarjoamat mahdollisuudet ja haasteet silloin kun kahvi on lisäksi luomusertifioitua sekä Reilun kaupan hyötyjen jakautuminen eri toimijoille kahvin arvoketjussa Nicaraguasta Suomeen. Reilun kaupan minimihinta tarjoaa osuuskunnille jonkinlaisen suojan hintojen laskemisen aiheuttamalta riskiltä. Tuottajaorganisaatiot ovat kuitenkin edelleen alttiita hinnanvaihteluille, koska ne myyvät suuren osan tuotannostaan konventionaalisille markkinoille. Lisäksi markkinahintojen ollessa Reilun kaupan minimihintojen yläpuolella hintojen vaihtelu koskee yhtä paljon Reilun kaupan tuotteita kuin tavallisia tuotteita. Markkinahintoja korkeampien hintojen käytännön toteutuksessa on haasteita. Hyötyjen tasapuolinen jakaminen on vaikeaa. Hintojen asettaminen on ongelmallista, koska tuotteiden markkinahinnat, valuuttakurssit ja erilaisten tuotannontekijöiden hinnat ovat jatkuvassa muutoksessa. Säädellyt hinnat voivat muuttua hetkessä liian korkeiksi tai mataliksi arvoketjun eri toimijoiden näkökulmasta. Hintaa on vaikeaa asettaa tuotteiden kaikille laatuominaisuuksille. Tämän seurauksena tuotteilta voidaan vaatia korkeaa laatua, joka vastaa korkeampaa hintaa. Vuoden 2005 jälkeen markkinahinnat ovat usein olleet Reilun kaupan minimihintaa korkeampia, jolloin minimihinnalla ei ole juuri ollut merkitystä. Reilun kaupan rahoittamien kehityshankkeiden vaikutusten tutkiminen on vaikeaa, koska hankkeet ovat hyvin moninaisia ja niillä on tyypillisesti useita rahoittajia. Osuuskuntien tekemän työn, kehitysyhteistyöhankkeiden ja Reilun kaupan rahoituksen ansiosta kahviosuuskuntien infrastruktuuri on selvästi parantunut viimeisen 10 vuoden aikana, mikä on lisännyt osuuskuntien mahdollisuuksia tuottaa laadukasta kahvia ja markkinoida sitä. Reilun kaupan rahoituksella on myös toteutettu esimerkiksi koulutusta ja terveydenhuoltoa edistäviä pienimuotoisia hankkeita. Osa rahoituksesta on käytetty sertifiointien maksamiseen. Reilun kaupan tarjoamat hyödyt osuuskunnille ja viljelijöille vaihtelevat eri konteksteissa. Tästä syystä Reilu kauppa ei voi esittää kovin tiukkoja vaatimuksia palkatun työvoiman olosuhteiden parantamiseksi. Noin puolet Reilun kaupan kahvista on lisäksi luomusertifioitua maailmanlaajuisesti ja Nicaraguassa. Reilun kaupan luomukahvin (mutta myös pelkästään luomusertifioidun kahvin) hinnat ovat olleet selvästi konventionaalista kahvia korkeampia ja vakaampia. Luomukahvin satoisuus on pienempää kuin mitä voidaan saavuttaa konventionaalisilla menetelmillä, mikä pienentää luomuviljelijöiden etuja muihin vaihtoehtoihin verrattuna. Jotkut Reilun kaupan viljelijät tuottavat vain vähän kahvia. Sertifioidusta kahvista saatavan hintapreemion vaikutukset tuloihin jäävät silloin pieniksi. Reilun kaupan lisähinnan kasvaminen arvoketjun eri vaiheissa johtaa tilanteeseen, jossa tuote saattaa olla kuluttajalle huomattavasti muita vaihtoehtoja korkeampi, vaikka tuottaja saa saman tai vain hieman korkeamman hinnan kuin tavanomaisilta markkinoilta. Yksi mahdollisuus kehittää Reilun kaupan järjestelmää olisi sitoa Reilun kaupan rahoittamiin kehityshankkeisiin menevä summa vähittäishintoihin tiettynä prosenttina tuotteen hinnasta. Näin Reilusta kaupasta maksettava hinta olisi selkeästi eriytetty tuotteen muusta hinnasta

How Can Sustainable Agricultural Systems Promote Food Security in a Changing Climate?

A theoretical framework of the link between climate change, rural development, sustainable agriculture, poverty, and food security is presented. Some options to respond to climate change are described. Current knowledge and potential effects on agricultural productivity is discussed. Necessary conditions for successful adaptation includes secured property rights to land, institutions that make market access possible and credit possibilities. The options of mitigation and enhanced adaptive capacity and the requirements for their implementation are discussed.Non Peer reviewe

Fair Trade organic coffee production in Nicaragua -- Sustainable development or a poverty trap?

This article assesses the impact of Fair Trade organic coffee production on the well-being of small-scale farmers in Nicaragua. Studying the results of organic management is crucial for evaluating the advantages of Fair Trade because approximately half of all Fair Trade coffee is also organically certified. A wide range of farmers, representatives of cooperatives and export companies in Nicaragua were interviewed during seven months of field work between 2005 and 2008. Fair Trade organic production raises farmer income when low-intensity organic farming is an alternative to low-intensity conventional farming. However, low-intensity farming produces very little coffee in the case of the most marginalized farmers, keeping these farmers in poverty. With higher intensities of management, the economic advantages of Fair Trade organic production largely depend on prices in the mainstream market.Organic agriculture Fair Trade Certification Coffee Nicaragua

2.1 Options to promote sustainable agricultural systems and food security in changing climate

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How can sustainable agricultural systems promote food security in changing climate?

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Empowering Coffee Traders? The Coffee Value Chain from Nicaraguan Fair Trade Farmers to Finnish Consumers

coffee, consumers, cooperatives, Fair Trade, farmers, Finland, labor, Nicaragua, retail prices, value chain,