More Perspectives on the Tea Debate

by Zarah Patriana

Published January 12, 2009 @ 06:57AM PT

Since Parminder Bahra's Times article came out regarding tea estates, I have been trying to start a dialogue with those in the Fair Trade community regarding the Plantation Question. There has been much disagreement surrounding this issue with some Fair Traders calling for more plantations being included in the system, while others are calling out for a moratorium on more plantation certification.

First, Equal Exchanger, Phyllis Robinson gave her take on the debate, now Rodney North, Answer Man over at leading Fair Trade company, Equal Exchange has joined in on the dialogue. First he puts us in perspective and reminds us what Fair Trade really is.

Fair Trade was not created so as to merely create a "kinder, gentler" form of commerce that raised wages, etc. while leaving unchanged the basic structures of ownership and control. To do so would be to accept the status quo and the inequitable distribution of land, power, and other resources  they have made plantations not only economically possible but inevitable.  To extend Fair Trade certification to plantations is to try to ameliorate a bad situation, not to end it.

The aim of Fair Traders in the 1980’s was always more radical than this. Among other goals (like reconnecting consumers and farmers) it was to challenge rural elites such as plantation owners and other large land holders, merchants and exporters who for so long possessed vastly disproportionate economic and political power in their regions, a power they abused more often than not.

Hence Fair Trade's core element of connecting northern importers (ideally committed Fair Traders or 'alternative trade organizations' as they were called back in the day) with democratic cooperatives of small farmers. So rather than try to get a better wage for person X on the Peruvian plantation or Mexican hacienda the goal was to do a complete end-around the local elites by creating a chance for folks like person X to farm his/her own land and work with his/her neighbors within a cooperative and become their own exporters and so on.
It was to get to at least some of the roots of what was so wrong in much of countryside in places ranging from Oaxaca to Sri Lanka.

I think it’s telling that a worker on a Fair Trade certified cut-flower plantation in Kenya, David Gikundi,  HAD previously been a small-scale tea grower, but we can assume left it when he couldn’t make a living selling tea. (He’s mentioned in this 2006 Guardian article critiquing the Fair Trade flower industry) Wouldn’t we all like to see small-scale tea growers like Mr. Gikundi have the chance to make a go of it on his own land, rather than be forced to become a plantation laborer? Yet the Fair Trade industry’s overwhelming focus on, and promotion of, tea plantations leaves small-farmers and their co-operatives out of the picture, and thereby is setting its aspirations way too low.

Sparking more discussion, I asked where the Fair Trade community should go from here and how should we focus on the Plantation Question. Rodney's personal suggestions:

For those truly decent plantations they can get their good practices certified by Rainforest Alliance. This gives them credit for what they’re doing while also enabling the Fair Trade movement to re-dedicate itself to small-farmers.

For conscientious importers/manufacturers they can make fuller use of the CO-OPERATIVES that are already on the FLO register &/or follow Equal Exchange’s lead and spend some time seeking out new co-op partners.

For retailers and advocacy groups, they can learn who is working with co-ops and seek them out.
Advocacy groups can also add  this facet to the ongoing Fair Trade education programs and, at minimum, edit out anything they now use that implies that Fair Trade tea, flowers, wine, etc supports small farmers. Currently many broad statements about Fair Trade do just that.

Thanks Rodney for the enlightening piece. Now looking for someone to speak out for the other side of the debate. Any takers?

[photo: allgreen.com]