Making biodiversity a corner stone

The first pillar of Fair Trade Alliance Kerala’s Fair Trade + 3 is biodiviersity. The aim: that every FTAK’s farm should be like a tropical rainforest boasting a rich, dense, diversity of crops. The Western Ghats area, where many of FTAK’s farmers work, has recently been declared a world heritage sight. This was in recognition of the sites biophysical and ecological processes, which also help to regulate India’s monsoon rains. It is the 8^th most biodiverse place on the planet, in fact there are 325 globally threatened species of flora, fauna, birds, amphibians and reptiles and it’s one of the few places left in the world where new species are still being discovered!

A rare frog found only in Eravikulam National Park, Kerala

Despite the world wide recognition that comes with the World Heritage Site award, there was local opposition from the Kerala local government and in particular Karnataka local government who voted unanimously to oppose the status.  The local authorities were not alone in their opposition and were joined by the church and the vast majority of farmer organisations (FTAK being the exception to the rule)! The reason? There is a perception that the rules and regulations which come along with status would hinder the development opportunities of the area.

Madhav Gadhil, with input from an expert panel, put together a controversial report  outlining about how to conserve the Western Ghats in line with its new status. The recommendations included to cancel damaging hydroelectric projects and move towards organic agriculture. The report was met with lots of opposition, but not to from FTAK and if you read it you will see why as there are many echoes of FTAK’s philosophy. Here are some snippets of common ground from the report:

In support of organic agriculture “The need for curtailing the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides is of greater priority in the Western Ghats than elsewhere, as application of these poisons in the higher hills gets carried downstream polluting the entire wetland systems.”

“Use of chemical manure has not only killed the soil biota but also has even changed the soil structure affecting soil fertility in the Western Ghats. This leads to application of an increasing quantum of chemical fertilizers without any scientific basis.”

In support of mixed crops “The large extent of monoculture plantations such as tea, coffee, and cardamom needs to integrate more indigenous crops, especially food crops and edible fruiting trees best suited to the locality, to help reduce soil erosion, improve water holding capacity of the soil, enhance productivity and, improve economic returns from unit area. ”

However some do see the opportunity for farming and for the planet that this status brings, V. Oommen the chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board said the status could be used as a leverage to access funds from the United Nation to revive traditional farming methods and promote organic farming. For FTAK the report justifies many of their existing policies and practices and could open up new opportunities.

A trip to look at the biodiversity of the area

To make a convincing case to persuade farmers to sign up to the concept of biodiversity FTAK are busy assessing the economic case. If they can prove that greater biodiversity = a greater income for farmers then they will win the argument. I will report back on how this goes as they gather evidence to make their proposition!

The cost of doing things differently

Most people in the Fair Trade movement are aware of the difference between the Alternative Trading Organisations like Divine, Cafe Direct, Traidcraft and Liberation Nuts, and the other Fairtrade certified products e.g. supermarket own brand goods,* although having said this, increasing this awareness to the general public is a different matter! However, in the same way, there can also a big difference in the type of producer groups who are part of the Fair Trade system. Just as there are those at the retail end who do the minimum in order to get the badge and cash in on markets,  you can also find the same situation at the producer end. And just as Divine’s market is threatened by Cadbury’s Fairtrade chocolate or Cafe Direct’s by Tesco own brand Fairtrade coffee, so too are Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (and others like them) threatened by those certified producer companies who can offer products at a lower price, basically because they don’t have the high costs associated with doing business in a truly different way.

 

Despite what the Adam Smith Institute and others think, Fair Trade is part of the market driven competitive world and all must fight to stay in it. Fair Trade retailers must convince the public to buy their product above the other Fairtrade certified goods, and Fair Trade producers must convince the Fair Trade retailers to buy theirs! The producer groups and Fair Trade Organisations who do being a ‘Fair Trade producer group’ or being a ‘Fair Trade Organisation’ the best will necessarily be more expensive and both have challenges ahead about how to fight their corner in the ethical market place. The Fairtrade label’s greatest achievement- to communicate at a glance an ethical seal of approval of a product- is also the main obstacle for those who want to say “yes we are all this but also so much more!”

There has been talk for a long time in the Fair Trade movement about how to differentiate those organisations set up with the sole aim of fair trading, to those who have the main aim of creating wealth for shareholders (at the core these are very different motivations!). And we are getting to a stage where we need to have the same conversations about the producer groups, so that Fair Trade buyers who for so long have asked the public not to fall into the trap of joining the race to the bottom, don’t make the same mistake themselves.

* I’m just using supermarket own brand products as an example but it isn’t a rule that they do only  the minimum. Sainsbury’s, for example, were trailblazers in bringing the first Fairtrade certified coffee over from the war torn Democratic of Congo to market and the Co-operative have been key in growing the Fair Trade market.