Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:50:14.317Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

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

References

Bacon, Christopher 2005 “Confronting the Coffee Crisis: Can Fair Trade, Organic, and Specialty Coffees Reduce Small-Scale Farmer Vulnerability in Northern Nicaragua?” World Development 33 (3): 497–511.Google Scholar
Blowfield, Mick 1999 “Ethical Trade: A Review of Developments and Issues.” Third World Quarterly 20 (4): 753–770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, David B., Sanchez, Jose L. P., and Murphy, Ellen C. 2002 “Social Dimensions of Organic Coffee Production in Mexico: Lessons for Eco-Labeling Initiatives.” Society and Natural Resources 15:429–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brockett, Charles D. 1990 Land, Power, and Poverty: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict in Central America. Boston: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Brown, Michael Barratt 1993 Fair Trade: Reform and Realities in the International Trading System. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Cambranes, J. C. 1985 Coffee and Peasants in Guatemala. San Carlos: University of San Carlos, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Fair Trade Federation (FTF) 2003 “Report on Fair Trade Trends in US, Canada & the Pacific Rim” (accessed May 5, 2007, at http://www.fairtradefederation.org).Google Scholar
Fair Trade Labelling Organisations (FLO) 2006 Building Trust, Annual Report 2005–2006 (accessed May 5, 2007, at http://www.fairtrade.net).Google Scholar
Fair Trade Labelling Organisations (FLO) 2007a “FLO Announces Increase in Fairtrade Premium and Organic Differential for Coffee” (accessed April 25, 2007, at http://www.fairtrade.net/news.html).Google Scholar
Fair Trade Labelling Organisations (FLO) 2007b “Explanatory Document: Introducing Fairtrade and Its Organisations” (accessed April 25, 2007, at http://www.fairtrade.net/info_sheetsO.html).Google Scholar
Gudmundson, Lowell 1986 Costa Rica before Coffee: Society and Economy on the Eve of the Export Boom. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.Google Scholar
Hershberg, Eric, Monge, Jorge, and Pérez, Juan Pablo, eds. 2003 From Coffee to Semi-Conductors: Costa Rica's Strategy for Industrial Upgrading and Equity. San José, Costa Riça: Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.Google Scholar
Hudson, Mark, and Hudson, Ian 2004 “Justice, Sustainability, and the Fair Trade Movement: A Case Study of Coffee Production in Chiapas.” Social Justice 31 (3): 130–146.Google Scholar
Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE) 2007 “Bienvenidos” (accessed May 5, 2007, at http://www.icafe.go.cr/homepage.nsf).Google Scholar
International Coffee Organization (ICO) 2006 Letter from the Executive Director, Coffee Market Report, December, (accessed May 5, 2007, at http://www.ico.org).Google Scholar
Karneef, Natalie 2005 “Ethical Chic.” The Gazette (Montreal), May 26, D1.Google Scholar
Levi, Margaret, and Linton, A. 2003 “Fair Trade: A Cup at a Time?” Politics & Society 31 (3): 407–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meacham, Bradley 2003 “How Fair Is Fair Trade Coffee.” Seattle Times (accessed at http://www.beantrends.com).Google Scholar
Moberg, Marc 2005 “Fair Trade and Eastern Caribbean Banana Farmers: Rhetoric and Reality in the Anti-Globalization Movement.” Human Organization 64 (1): 4–15.Google Scholar
Muradian, Roldan, and Pelupessy, Wim 2004 “Governing the Coffee Chain: The Role of Voluntary Regulatory Systems.” World Development 33 (12): 2029–2044.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, Douglas L., and Raynolds, L. T. 2000 “Alternative Trade in Bananas: Obstacles and Opportunities for Progressive Social Change in the Global Economy” Agriculture and Human Values 17:65–74.Google Scholar
Murray, Douglas, Raynolds, L. T., and Taylor, P. L. 2003 One Cup at a Time: Poverty Alleviation and Fair Trade Coffee in Latin America. New York: The Ford Foundation.Google Scholar
Murray, Douglas, Raynolds, L. T., and Taylor, P. L. 2006 “The Future of Fair Trade Coffee: Dilemmas Facing Latin America's Small-Scale Producers.” Development in Practice 16 (2): 179–192.Google Scholar
Mutersbaugh, Tad 2002 “Ethical Trade and Certified Organic Coffee: Implications of Rules-Based Agricultural Product Certification for Mexican Producer Households and Villages.” Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 12:88–107.Google Scholar
Mwandha, James, Nicholls, J., and Sargent, M. 1985 Coffee: The International Commodity Agreements. Brookfield, VT: Gower.Google Scholar
Nigh, Ronald 1997 “Organic Agriculture and Globalization: A Maya Associative Corporation in Chiapas, Mexico.” Human Organization 56 (40): 427–436.Google Scholar
Paige, Jeffery 1987 “Coffee and Politics in Central America.” In Crises in the Caribbean Basin, edited by Tardanico, R., 141–189. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publication.Google Scholar
Parrish, Bradley, Luzadis, V., and Bentley, W. 2005 “What Tanzania's Coffee Farmers Can Teach the World: A Performance-Based Look at the Fair Trade-Free Trade Debate.” Sustainable Development 13:177–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, Elisabeth 2005 “Evaluating Fair Trade as a Development Project: Methodological Considerations.” Development in Practice 15 (2): 134–150.Google Scholar
Raynolds, Laura, Murray, D., and Taylor, P. L. 2004 “Fair Trade Coffee: Building Producer Capacity via Global Networks.” Journal of International Development 16:1109–1121.Google Scholar
Renard, Marie-Christine 1999 “The Interstices of Globalization: The Example of Fair Coffee.” Sociologia Ruralis 39 (4): 484–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, Robert A. 2001 “Noble Goals and Challenging Terrain: Organic and Fair Trade Coffee Movements in the Global Marketplace.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 14:39–66.Google Scholar
Ronchi, Loraine 2002 “The Impact of Fair Trade on Producers and their Organisations: A Case Study with Coocafé in Costa Rica.” PRUS Working Paper No. 11, Poverty Research Unit at Sussex, University of Sussex.Google Scholar
Roseberry, William 1983 Coffee and Capitalism in the Venezuelan Andes. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Samper, Mario 1990 Generations of Settlers: Rural Households and Markets on the Costa Rican Frontier, 1850–1935. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Shreck, Aimee 2005 “Resistance, Redistribution, and Power in the Fair Trade Banana Initiative.” Agriculture and Human Values 22:17–29.Google Scholar
Sick, Deborah 1997 “Coping with Crisis: Costa Rican Households and the International Coffee Market.” Ethnology 36 (3): 255–275.Google Scholar
Sick, Deborah 1999 Farmers of the Golden Bean: Costa Rican Households and the Global Coffee Economy. De Kalb: Northern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, Charles, and Rapone, A. 2000 “Community Development from the Ground Up: Social-Justice Coffee.” Human Ecology Review 7 (1): 46–57.Google Scholar
Taylor, Peter L., Murray, D., and Raynolds, L. 2005 “Keeping Trade Fair: Governance Challenges in the Fair Trade Coffee Initiative.” Sustainable Development 13:199–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, Bob 1995 “Lessons Learned: Fair Trade and CED.” Paper presented at Community Enterprise Development and Globalization Conference (accessed at http://www.globalexchange.org).Google Scholar
Transfair 2004 “Fair Trade Coffee Price Review: The Way Forward.” Transfair USA Press Release (accessed at http://transfairusa.org/content/about/ppr_070123.php).Google Scholar
Transfair 2006 “About Fair Trade” (accessed at http://www.transfair.ca).Google Scholar
Transfair 2007 Fair Trade Almanac: 1998–2006 (accessed at http://uhfairtrade.org/files/2006FairTradeAlmanac.pdf).Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of Public Affairs 2006 Background Note: Costa Rica. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (accessed May 5, 2007, at http://www.state.gOv/r/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm).Google Scholar
Williams, Robert 1994 States and Social Evolution: Coffee and the Rise of National Governments in Central America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar