Monitoring the Scope and Benefits of Fairtrade
Around the world, over 1.15 million farmers and workers benefit from participation in the Fairtrade certification system. The Monitoring the Scope and Benefits of Fairtrade report compiled by Fairtrade International covers everything from the country with the highest number of Fairtrade farmers (Tanzania with 148,200), to the total area of land under cultivation with Fairtrade products (1,184,400 hectares), to the most popular Premium projects (production and processing investment).
Fairtrade International is currently present in 63 countries worldwide, with a total of 905 producer groups. The number of farmers and workers participating in Fairtrade continues to grow, with estimations that it exceeded 1.2 million in 2011, with 27 percent of this number being women. Numbers of small farmers in Fiji and Papua New Guinea (areas managed by the Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand Producer Support and Relations team) grew significantly due to new certifications. With Fairtrade on the rise, sales revenues and Fairtrade Premium receipts have risen to AU$681 million and AU$63.8 million respectively.
The Fairtrade premium is a sum of money paid on top of the agreed Fairtrade price for investment in social, environmental or economic development projects, decided upon democratically by producers within the farmers’ organisation or by workers on a plantation. Globally, Fairtrade producer organisations reported receiving AU$63.8 million in Fairtrade Premium income, an increase of 22 percent. Due to volume sales and Premium increases, coffee and cocoa reported the greatest increases in Fairtrade Premium received by producers. The Premium generated an additional AU$21.7 million for coffee farmers world wide, which producer organisations spend overwhelmingly on investments in their businesses and direct additional payments to their members.
Seventy seven percent of Fairtrade Certified producer organisations have at least one other certification. Organic certification is consistently the most frequently reported other certification held by Fairtrade producers, with 54 percent of Fairtrade Certified producers and 65 percent of Fairtrade Certified small producers reporting organic certification.
