A Fairer Way to Do Business with 2nd and 3rd World Nations
Walk through your local branch of Sainsburys, and you’re observing the miracle of global market forces. You can buy practically anything at a very low price. Whether it’s bananas from the Philippines or tea from Brazil – it’s acquirable all year round. There’s never been a greater time in the history of humanity to be a shopper! This has happened through intricate stock control and logistics, large scale production, strong competitive forces, and perhaps most importantly, the fact that many manufactured goods are sourced, and frequently manufactured, in second and third world nations.
The final point is rather substantive, and very contentious. While shoppers are purchasing food, drink, clothing and other items produced from second and third world nations at cheap cost, workers and business organizations in these manufacturing countries are oftentimes exploited, and have no true sustainable business model as they are the last stop of a very lengthy chain of middle men who determine what they manufacture, how much, and how often. This extended chain of middle-men all get their pay too – in the end there’s not much money for the actual producer.
Still, there is help for these exploited individuals and businesses. Fairtrade is a movement which attempts to empower such end-producing business organisations in the poorest nations of the world. It looks to cut out the middle-men, and renumerate the end-manufacturer a decent price for an item in a far more targeted way. You might have encountered Fairtrade items in your local supermarket. You’ll sometimes find they’re a tad more expensive, but by purchasing such ethical products – e.g. fair trade gifts – you will know the manufacturer is working in a sustainable way that doesn’t just pay them fairly via a much more direct revenue flow, but it also permits them to reinvest in their company through higher profits, which really makes a difference to these poorer parts of the world.
