Fair Trade, Gender, and the Environment in Africa

The Fair Trade movement raises an important challenge to the ecologically and socially destructive relations which characterize the conventional global food system. Fair Trade critiques dominant agricultural production and trade patterns and seeks to create more sustainable global food networks. This chapter analyzes the politics of Fair Trade’s efforts to narrow the global North /South divide, focusing particularly on the case of Africa. Since Africa is one of the most disadvantaged regions in the world and has in recent years seen the largest growth in Fair Trade production, this regional focus highlights both the promise and the challenges of enhancing trade justice. As we demonstrate, Fair Trade is closely linked to organic initiatives in seeking to halt environmental degradation and support more sustainable practices in agro-export sectors. Linking environmental and social improvements, Fair Trade works explicitly to bolster gender equity and democratic relations among producer groups and these linkages have often taken a distinctive turn within the African context. Though by no means a panacea, we conclude that Fair Trade provides an important avenue for addressing critical environmental and social problems in the world today.