Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation Director and former Institute of Development Studies (IDS) student, returned to IDS to deliver a Sussex Development Lecture on the fairtrade movement and its crucial role in tackling global poverty.

The lecture was attended by committed local Sussex fairtrade activists and students and staff from IDS and the University of Sussex. Harriet is just one of a number of former IDS students who have gone on to take up influential roles within the international development sector as part of national governments, NGOs and academia.

In her opening remarks, Harriet referred to United States cotton subsidies driving down the livelihoods of West African countries as just one of many examples of injustices in trade. She argued that challenging these injustices was the surest route to tackling global poverty and securing our common good.

Established in 1992, the Fairtrade Foundation was set up in response to the collapse of commodity prices of goods such as coffee, sugar, cocoa, rubber, jute, rice, bananas, tea and cotton and the damaging effect this was having on smallholder producers in developing countries.

The idea of a fairtrade mark or stamp of approval was established to signify to consumers that a fair price had been paid to the producer. At the heart of the fairtrade movement was the belief that given the necessary information, the general public would be happy to pay a fair price for their goods and support ethical trading practices.

The 1.5 million smallholders across 60 developing countries who are now part of the fairtrade network all adhere to a set of standards which mean that:

• Farmers must be organised into democratically governed groups, thus improving their ability to change their position in the supply chain.
• Traders must buy directly from locally certified producers, and they must pay a minimum price and premium for goods.

Harriet argued that the benefits of fairtrade were far reaching. She cited research undertaken by Sally Smith at IDS which demonstrated the positive economic and social impacts of fairtrade. She also referred to the specific case of a group of cotton growers from Mali who had chosen to invest the premium which they had received from selling their goods into building a local school. In the first year they built two classrooms. In the second year they built two further classrooms and they also lobbied the government to match their contribution by building another four classrooms.

Harriet also used the example of the Windward Islands to demonstrate the positive effects of fairtrade. 100% of all bananas exported from the Windward Islands are fair trade and this has resulted in a complete turn-around for an economy which was previously in decline. It has provided a steady income which has allowed the Islands to explore opportunities to diversify their economy and invest in much needed improvements to infrastructure.

Harriet stressed that consumer demand for fairtrade products was the only reason companies have engaged with fairtrade movements. Around 77% of the British public recognise the fairtrade mark and what it stands for. Companies such as Sainsburys, Cadburys and Starbucks all support fairtrade products because consumer demand for them exists and their commercial viability is proven.

Harriet concluded by arguing that the fairtrade model had a crucial role to play in driving the type of sustainable and inclusive growth that is required to effectively tackle global poverty.