Abstract
This paper discusses Fair Trade [FT] certification as a way to include small producers in global value chains, and identifies the main barriers for small honey producers from RS to meet these criteria. A new trading system such as FT has been providing access for food products coming from small farmers from developing countries. The method of this study integrates global value chain analysis and the methodology proposed by Paul (2005) to analyse FT as development projects. This study is three-fold: first to characterise the FT system; then to present the role of governance by third party certifiers such as FLO-CERT and finally to provide empirical evidence of the main difficulties that small producers have to comply with FT, such as export and organisation capacity. Our findings show that large retailers recently became big players in the FT system. The certification costs are high but can provide market access though there is a risk of overspecialisation.
Highlights
This paper is part of wider research on the role of certification on providing market access to small agri-food companies/producers
A new trading paradigm such as Fair Trade [FT] has transformed the traditional modus operandi of international food chains by providing an alternative market for food products coming from small farmers in developing countries (Lewin, Giovannucci, & Varangis, 2004)
To ensure that the small producers benefit from the FT system, there is need for a greater understanding of the adoption pattern as well as the socio-economic benefits to be gained from the involvement of farmers in FT
Summary
This paper is part of wider research on the role of certification on providing market access to small agri-food companies/producers. We provide an empirical analysis of the main difficulties that small producers face in order to comply with FT, using evidence from honey producers in Rio Grande do Sul State. The paper, besides this introductory section, is organised as follows: second section discusses the theoretical framework of the study; third section describes the method employed; fourth section presents the main findings of the research; fifth section draws the final remarks and provides suggestions for future research
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