33Brown University

Leadership & Global EngagementSummer 2103

Trade + Justice=

Fair Trade & Equal Exchange

Rodney Northrodney@equalexchange.coop

Traditional, shade-grown coffee farms like this…

Were replaced by large scale, chemically intensive, monoculture plantations

The World in 1986 – Cont’d

▪ Market failure

▪ Destructive industrial, chemical-intensive farming

▪ The “mis-incentives” & mis-alignment of large corporations

▪ Uninformed / disengaged consumers

▪ Chronic poverty & hungry, marginalized small farmers

A Radical Response Was Required

☼ Support democratic co-ops of small-scale farmers

A Radical Response

☼ Direct trading relationships / cut-out the ‘coyotes’ & elites

A Radical Response

☼ Direct relationships

Replace these 8 links …

A Radical Response

… with these 5 links

A Radical Response

☼ Fair Trade:

◊ Higher, more stable prices

Higher, stable, more predictable prices

A Radical Response

☼ Fair Trade:

◊ Higher, more stable prices

◊ Affordable credit

◊ Direct, long-term relationships with farmer co-ops

A Radical Response

Support organic farming

A Radical Response

☼

For ex. what kind of farming works here?

A Radical Response

☼

A Radical Response

☼

Devastation from Hurricane Stan, 2005, Nicaragua

☼ Advocacy in partnership with activists & faith-based organizations:

☼ Consumer education / storytelling

☼ Practicing economic fairness & democracy at home, too

Equal Exchange is a

worker co-op

with an egalitarian, democratic

1 person / 1 share / 1 vote

structure

The WorkerCo-operative model

a.k.a.

“the John Adams & Adam Smith business plan”

▪ Democratic

▪ For-profit

+

▪ 4-to-1 pay ratio

▪ Can’t be sold

Sounds good – but has it really worked?

Pounds of Fair Trade coffee imported into the U.S.

The Early Years1986 - 1999

1986 2000 2011

Companies that have begun to offer at least 1 Fair Trade product:

Other signs of success, viability,

& scalability

Our sales

$10k investment in EE vs. S&P500 over 10 years

☼ Steady growth in our partnership:

Growth of product line / # and type of farmers served /

industries touched

Lessons Learned?

The importance of challenging / changing

institutional power and…

of helping people stay on their land