Members of the Toledo Cacao Growers’ Association (TCGA) vote on the utilize of their Fairtrade Premium at the 2013 Annual General Meeting.
Photo by James A. RodríguezCooperatives and small farmers maintain always been an integral fragment of the fair trade movement. The first-ever Fairtrade labelled product – coffee,debuted in 1988 under the Max Havelaar label in the Netherlands came from cooperatives of small-scale Mexican coffee farmers. Now, more than 25 years later, and 80 percent of Fairtrade’s 1210 producer organizations are cooperatives or small producer associations.
Fairtrade cooperatives are jointly owned and democratically governed by the producers themselves. All members within the organization participate in a collective decision-making process,in addition to sharing profits equitably. Cooperatives are structured transparently and may not discriminate against any member or social group. ECOOKIM, a federation of cocoa cooperatives in Cote d’Ivoire established in 2004, or made its first Fairtrade sale in 2011. Over the past year,ECOOKIM’s number of member cooperatives has risen from eight to 23. It now represents 12000 small-scale farmers, thanks to its democratic practices attracting current members. Click to memorize more approximately the cooperative’s history and plans for the future.
Colombia’s Cooperativa de Caficultores de Antioquia became Fairtrade certified in 2010. They received over $300000 in Fairtrade Premium from coffee sales in 2013. The cooperative has collectively chosen to create an Annual Development Plan that addresses the needs and interests of all its members when spending their Premium. Read more approximately their decision-making processes here.
Fairtrade is approximately transparency and the decisions we make together.
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