Observations on fairtrade

Leaders of the Fairtrade movement are hoping that the International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, won't come empty-handed when he turns up at the launch of Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles, marking the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight (25 February to 9 March). The book's author, Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation, hopes Alexander's speech - and cash - will signal that his department sees fair trade as a model for development.

In fact, the Fairtrade label is already a huge success and the most recognised ethical symbol in the UK. The Department for International Development (DfID) recently published its own survey showing high levels of support for the Fairtrade mark, with many people agreeing that it was a more effective way to tackle poverty than giving to charity.

Yet there is a solid case for more investment in the "brand". The most pressing need is for resources to increase the number of accreditation monitors. Processors and retailers complain that it takes too long to get approval for supplying Fairtrade products.

Alexander should have little difficulty convincing his boss about fair trade. Gordon Brown has made it clear that he is a fan. During last year's Fairtrade Fortnight he invited a Ghanaian cocoa producer to No 11 for a photocall, and in his book Britain's Everyday Heroes he praised Bruce Crowther, founder of the Fairtrade Towns movement, which now has more than 300 members.

And fair trade is one of the fastest-growing retail sectors, with sales getting on for half a billion pounds a year. Leading brands such as Cafédirect and Divine will shortly be joined by the launch of Liberation nuts.

But MPs on the Commons international development select committee believe DfID has been slower on the uptake than consumers and business. The enthusiasm in the high street - with Sainsbury's leading the way - is astonishing for the fair-trade pioneers who began selling ethically sourced goods through Oxfam shops, at fairs and by direct mail less than 20 years ago. Now they see a supermarket advertising the "banana split that can make a difference", made from Fairtrade bananas, sugar and chocolate.

The Fairtrade Foundation estimates that seven million producers around the world benefit from fair trade. Growers get guaranteed payment above world market prices and are required to form democratic local associations that receive a social premium to develop their communities. Typically this is spent on providing clean water, health centres and schools, but can also help wean farmers from their dependence on single crops. For example, the Windward Islands banana producers have plans to buy computers to equip their young people for jobs in tourism.

Lamb and her colleagues aim to double sales over the next five years with a new strategy that will take on board a select committee recommendation that fair trade focus on the most disadvantaged producers in the poorest countries.

The first fruits of the new strategy are likely to be expanding fair trade in countries such as Mozambique, Malawi and Sierra Leone.

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