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Coffee, Farming Families, and Fair Trade in Costa Rica: New Markets, Same Old Problems?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Deborah Sick
Deborah Sick*
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
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Abstract

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Fair-trade networks have been working to temper the inequities and uncertainties facing small-scale artisans and farmers and to provide them with more secure and livable incomes. Drawing on earlier research in 1991–1993 and a brief pilot study in 2006, this research note examines farmers' perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of production for fair trade in three coffee-producing regions in Costa Rica. While the fair-trade movement has made significant headway in bringing social and environmental concerns to the marketplace and in providing farmers with guaranteed minimum prices for their coffee, farmers' reactions to production for fair trade indicate a number of problems that farmers and fair-trade cooperatives are facing in their efforts to reap the potential benefits of fair trade. As currently structured, fair-trade markets alone do not adequately address the needs of small farming families in Latin America.

Resumo

Resumo

Las redes de comercio justo han trabajado para disminuir las inequidades e incertidumbres que los pequeños artesanos y agricultores enfrentan y asegurarles un ingreso más estable, que les garantice un buen nivel de vida. Utilizando datos de investigaciones previas, realizadas entre 1991 y 1993, y un estudio preliminar, hecho en 2006, este trabajo examina las percepciones de los caficultores en tres regiones de Costa Rica, relacionadas con las ventajas y desventajas de la producción de café para el comercio justo. Aunque este movimiento ha realizado avances, como traer las preocupaciones sociales y ambientales al mercado y proveer a los agricultores con un precio mínimo garantizado por su café, las reacciones de los agricultores indican una serie de problemas que enfrentan, junto con las cooperativas de comercio justo, en sus esfuerzos por alcanzar los beneficios potenciales del comercio justo. Tal como está estructurado actualmente, el comercio justo por sí solo no está en capacidad de satisfacer las necesidades de las pequeñas familias de agricultores en América Latina.

Type
Research Reports and Notes
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , 2008 , pp. 193 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the University of Texas Press

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