At the current United Nations Climate talks, in Cancun, Mexico, the global community turns its attention, again, to the problem of environmental damage and the harm we are causing by failing to reach agreement on solutions. For millions of people across the world though, this no not something they think about just once a year, but every day.
In Kerala, India, nut yields, and associated incomes, have dropped by 30% over the last few years. On the island of St Lucia in the Caribbean banana farmers have recently had almost their entire crop destroyed by tropical hurricanes, an increasingly frequent event. And in Uganda Fairtrade coffee producers have reported a 40% drop in production. And recent research work by the Natural Resources Institute suggests that all the major Fairtrade products are under increasing threat from the damage we are causing in our environment.
The clear message from the Fairtrade movement is that many of the major products where Fairtrade is working, and which we enjoy in the UK such as coffee, tea, fruit and chocolate are likely to become increasingly scarce and expensive the longer nothing happens.
But there are solutions available. Amongst the participants gathering around the Cancun meeting will be a small group of representatives from Fairtrade farmer networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America, who will bring a unique perspective to the debate. They will be taking part in a side conference to discuss how the direct experience of those affected by environmental damage can be better used in formulating Policy. Their message is a simple one: provide small farmers with a fair return for their products, invest in them as individuals and as organized groups, genuinely act to empower them, and they will be able to help find their own solutions.
Agriculture needs to be at the centre of environmental damage discussions. A good result from the Cancun meetings can ensure that farmers receive more and appropriate support. Enough funding must be committed for adaptation to climate change, and this funding must be appropriate and available for small scale farmers in developing countries.
Fairtrade producers don’t want charity, they would like recognition for their achievements in producing sustainably, and to see their efforts to adapt to climatic variability and economic uncertainty are adequately supported in the ways they see fit. Each producer, and each producer organisation is unique, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not do.
Despite the fact that small scale farmers are at the front line of the climate crisis they have, for too long, remained the forgotten and unheard voices in the climate discussions. It is time for this to change, for the future benefit of all of us.
To read the Fairtrade Foundation press release on which this article is based, please click here.
