JustJames said

What are your opinions on Fairtrade Intenational on tea farms in Africa? (a student's survey plea)

hi, i’m james, and i am an unrepentant tea addict.

i started back to school recently… okay, maybe FINALLY is a better word choice.

i am taking a human geography course… which breaks down to the migratory patterns of people. what pushes them out of a region and draws them into another?

my final project had to be looking at a sub saharan african country, aside from that and a few basic guidelines the subject matter was left up to me. the professor said in an ideal world we would study something personal to us, something we were passionate about. i dithered a bit, but then began to look into tea farming in uganda.

Fairtrade International holds a fairly significant position in sub saharan countries, especially kenya.

for a farm to be Fairtrade certified they have to be compliant with a whole host of standards including paying a living wage over minimum wage, human rights laws must be followed including a zero tolerance policy on forced or child labour.

my research has lead ME to conclude that Fairtrade has a good effect on developing nations: socially, economically and environmentally. however, whenever you see the certification stamp you can expect to pay a few dollars extra.

my questions:

1) what do you think of fairtrade’s presence on tea farms in developing countries?

2) if the extra money you pay for your fairtrade stamped tea makes it to the employees and small holders do you feel the extra you pay is worth it?

3) how often do you buy fair trade tea? not necessarily Fairtrade International certified, but any product stamped as fair trade?

4) on a scale of 1-5 how much does a product being fair trade resonate with you? (1=unimportant 5=very important)

there are no right answers. i really want to know what you think! thanks for you time!

14 Replies

I wasn’t aware there was such an organization and would love to hear the result of your research. I do buy fair trade coffee and chocolate whenever possible.
I feel fair trade isn’t a significant concept in Japanese tea and Chinese tea. But maybe it’s a different story in other countries.
By the way, I bought some Ajiri tea (from Kenya) that’s excellent. Their tea boxes are all handmade and each is different. I heard their revenue supports schooling of local kids. Maybe relevant to your research?

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Dr Jim said

1. I think fair trade is a good idea.
2. I would pay a small premium but not a large one.
3. I really don’t know. It hasn’t been a large discriminator for me. I’ve bought some, but primarily because it was recommended for quality/price, not because I wanted to buy fair trade.
4. Probably a 2 or 3. All things being equal I would give preference to fair trade, but don’t seek it out.

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JustJames said

that is indeed relevant! thank you for the information.

i find the reports from Fairtrade International very encouraging: the manner in which the share holders and small holders vote to reinvest the dividends. namely, roads, digging new wells, medical clinics. the incidence of malaria is reduced in these communities is reduced and the surrounding villages all get to use the newly built amenities.

Mpanga tea estate is an excellent example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbTWvaG4Y4

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JustJames said

Dr Jim, thank you very much for your feedback. it is exceptionally helpful.

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yyz said

1) what do you think of fairtrade’s presence on tea farms in developing countries? For the most part I think it is a positive development. It helps producers to retain a larger amount of the money earned from the sale of the tea which only helps the industry and the community in the whole as those who are able to earn a living wage off of the tea can also invest more back into producing a better product. I like fair trade but I like the concept of the Rainforest’s sustainable farm program even better.http://sustainablefarmcert.com/

2) if the extra money you pay for your fairtrade stamped tea makes it to the employees and small holders do you feel the extra you pay is worth it? Yes, though cost still is a factor in my decision making.

3) how often do you buy fair trade tea? not necessarily Fairtrade International certified, but any product stamped as fair trade? Occasionally, right now I have been buying a lot from smaller producers who have smaller farms and less funds available to obtain certification.

4) on a scale of 1-5 how much does a product being fair trade resonate with you? (1=unimportant 5=very important)
3 again It is more of a concern when dealing with larger companies. I regularly buy rain forest alliance or fair trade coffee though.

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JustJames said

yyz, thank you very much for your well thought answer, and also for the link! i greatly appreciate it!

yyz said

Your welcome, good luck on your assignment!

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sandra said

i buy fair trade Kenyan tea (via simon levelt in the Netherlands) and have some Zomba Malawi green tea in my house, which is also fair trade. Both teas are wonderful and basic stock :)
As I buy most of my teas with Simon Levelt (monopolist player in the Netherlands, and 80% of their teas organic and fair trade).. I guess I never have given it a second thought.

I value the thought that with the additional money on each product, local farmers can get a better price for their products. However, outcome that this actually happens is vague, and often not regulated/monitored via local governments. I also wonder if they can withstand competition on the world market without support.

I buy these mentioned teas because they taste great, and it feels good to have given local farmers a better change in life. However, I do pick cheaper teas at times, when money is an issue.

I do feel at times that fair trade money isn’t going to the appointed projects, but end up in ehum certain other pockets…..

JustJames said

thank you very much for your reply. i have not heard of simon levelt and will have to look them up!

i understand your questions regarding where the money goes. i have seen evidence with Fairtrade International that i find persuasive, but that is just a single organization.

thank you for taking the time to contribute to the conversation!

The owner of Majani Tea in Kenya, Ronald Mutai (whose teas are certified Fair Trade and who is fervent about improving lives of the people in Kenya http://fairtradeusa.org/blog/improving-lives-kenya-through-fair-trade-tea) sometimes frequents this board, you might contact him.

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By far the vast bulk of African tea is of lower grade produced by CTC and used in tea bags produced for and marketed by multinational tea companies and conglomerates. I don’t drink that tea at all, so it has little effect on me. I also tend to think that Fair Trade initiatives will have little effect on those types of companies and so the bulk of African tea. Even when I was in Tanzania last year, the major teas I saw on sale everywhere, like African Pride (Afri Teas Co) and Kilimanjaro did not appear to be Fair Trade.

Although there are an increasing number of larger, well known tea companies (Harney’s comes to mind) and few small estate quality tea exporters whose tea shows up here on Steepster who adhere to Fair Trade practices, it’s still a small fraction in number and tonnage.

Unfortunately I don’t really like African teas, even the best of them and don’t buy it enough to support Fair Trade sellers in Africa. The two times I did buy African tea, though, it was from sellers I discovered here on Steepster who marketed as Fair Trade. I think at least as far as I’ve seen, pretty much all quality African tea, that is teas from small estates or growers, will be Fair Trade. I didn’t mind at all paying a bit more. The amount is trivial to me but important to the workers there.

JustJames said

indeed, the number of fair trade tea producers (by comparison to the rest) is small. although i do find it encouraging that they are coming out of countries that need the living wage versus minimum wage (ie: india and many african nations).

i think all ugandan tea is CTC… the stuff i bought for the end of my presentation came from Mitiyana and looked like coffee…. certainly not an outstanding tea, but no where near the worst i’ve ever tried, lol!

i think my greatest frustration (though it is likely very specific to me and my studies) is that most fair trade stamped teas are too vague for my taste: ‘fair trade from india’. that’s great, WHERE in india?

thank you so much for your time.

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JusTea said

hey James,
Love your topic of study. We are currently starting a tea project out of Kenya to teach farmers how to roast their own tea. Currently KTDA, a government company, controls almost all of the tea roasting in Kenya. Very little money goes back to the actual growers. The tea passes through too many hands with the farmers at the very tail end of this chain. Even the fair trade designation is a catch 22, it is very expensive and difficult to get. About half of the tea farms are small family run one acre farms. Until the farmers can get more control out of the tea process, the situation will remain bad. It will also remain extremely unfair wages. It isn’t that fair trade is bad, it is that for tea coming out of Africa it is an exception, almost anomaly. While coffee has managed to have very pervasive fair-trade growers world wide, fair trade tea is still relatively small (excepting high quality teas out of China & Japan that have had a long history of artisanship).

we have a whole bunch of info www.justea.com if you are interested

JustJames said

what an excellent project to be part of!

often when you’re looking at extreme poverty in affiliation with developing nations i find that authoritarian systems are in place to bypass control being given to individuals. there are no easy answers. however, i am encouraged by the options available: fair trade teas, the rainforest sustainable farming program as yyz mentioned above, fairtrade international. i won’t say the situation is great, but it’s getting a bit better…. options are becoming available. if i had more speaking time i’d look at more than one organization…. although ALL of the links mentioned will be at least briefly addressed in the presentation.

i judge andrew mwenda to be a rather brilliant public mouthpiece on the topic of economics. aid and the key difference between poverty reduction and the creation of wealth. he is articulate and persuasive which is excellent for someone debating politics!

i will absolutely look into your link. thank you so much!

if it interests you you can find mwenda’s TED talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mwenda_takes_a_new_look_at_africa.html

one of the peripheral awesome aspects to the talk is that at one point he’s arguing (politely) with someone off camera (minute marker 6:12 give or take). that was bono from U2. who won a TED award. =0) who is particularly bright in my opinion. (a rock star does not mean a rocket scientist, lol)

thank you so much for taking the time…. we should talk, i am very interested in your project!

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