Why The Fair Trade Market Is Growing In Importance

By Lila Barry


The concept of the fair trade market is one that has been growing in popularity in recent years. The idea is to give producers in developing countries a just price for the commodities they make or grow or that are extracted from their lands.

Capitalism as we know it today owes its very existence to the particular relationship that was contrived between industrializing nations and colonized states in various corners of the world. A number of European countries including Great Britain are examples of how empire worked. The legacy of the unfair relationships still persists until the present era.

In the not too distant past at the height f the colonial era there were a few countries that literally ruled the world with a power they maintained through military might. This power enabled them to annex vast sections of the planet as their colonies which they could exploit to their advantage. The colonies were turned into raw material production regions to feed the factories of industrialized Europe.

The countries that were colonized were the perfect markets for the goods which they bought at a price way elevated over and above the price paid for the raw material. The fact of the matter is that the colonial powers were the very authorities that actually fixed the prices. They did this to favor the buyers of the raw materials and at the expense of those that produced it. It was a system by which the rich got richer and the poor, poorer.

Even though colonialism is technically over, the unfair relationship that was established during those days still exists. Many countries are still locked into the position of supplying raw materials to industrialized nations at unfair price. This includes products such as cocoa and palm oil which are purchased as raw materials and sold back as chocolate and soap powder. Nowadays it works in more sophisticated products too such as diamonds that are sold back as components of electronic products.

It is not just these unfair economic relationships persist, but that they have in fact evolved and manifested some very unpleasant facets in the modern world. Nowadays, some of the poor countries are given the mandate to manufacture good but the labor needed to do so are paid very poorly and given extremely bad working conditions.

Some Asian countries are in the news of late for being in the position of producing cheap clothing to western markets with tragic consequences for their workforces. This news coverage has come to the attention of some western consumers who have reacted with outrage. They are boycotting some of the stores who are the worst offenders of buying these cheap clothes.

The people who are looking for fair alternatives are seriously investigating the existence of a fair trade market that they can get easy access too. As such many retailers are responding to the new level of awareness by sourcing goods that have been fairly traded to supply to their growing customer base.




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