Kayla Ortiz

Fair Trade as a Means of Gender Equality in Developing Countries (Southeast Asia)

Aims:
The goal of this project is to analyze the benefits of Fair Trade to women in Southeast
Asia and in what ways the conditions for women can be improved. Fair Trade has done good for
many producers in less developed countries, but women are falling behind for various reasons,
particularly the more traditional male-dominated cultures. In this project, the challenges faced by
women of Southeast Asia in Fair Trade are going to be explored and the reason for women being
unable to reach the success level of their male counterparts will hopefully be made clear. Once
the problem is recognized, different business models will be analyzed within the geographic area
of Southeast Asia and the model most successful will be evaluated as to why it was more
successful and how that success can be translated across the board and be applied to Fair Trade
in other developing countries.
Background:
Fair Trade is a social movement that contributes to sustainable development by offering
better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers [in
developing countries] (Hutchens 2010). Fair Trade began after World War II when countries of
the North, such as Europe and the United States, began to import and sell products made by
individuals from Southern countries to support international development (Low et al. 2006).
Currently, the efforts are focused in developing countries as a way to create income for families
and put money back into the local economies so that they can flourish on their own. It was
created with the idea that by changing the conditions and terms of international trade in the
interests of small-scale producers..., the latter could realise economic independence and
development (Hutchens 2010). Fair Trade encompasses a variety of products from agricultural
products (usually coffee) to more artisan products such as clothing and jewelry. The individual
producers work in collaboration with organizations such as The World Fair Trade Organization
and Fairtrade International to get their products marketed and distributed to other countries
where their products are in demand. AccordingtoRice,thewayforlessdevelopedcountriesto
gaintheircompetitiveedge,theyhavetoparticipateinexportorientedactivitiestobemore
competitiveintheglobalmarketwhichisthegoalofFairTradeeffortsinthesecountries(2010).
Both men and women are producers within Fair Trade Organizations, with men working
more in the agricultural sector and women usually producing handmade crafts. Crafts comprise
90% of the products exported from Asia specifically through the World Fair Trade OrganizationAsia branch, with 80% of the producers being women (Hutchens 2010). This branch is in charge
of regulating production according to the Ten Principles of Fair Trade as established by the
World Fair Trade Organization which includescreatingopportunitiesforeconomically
disadvantagedproducers,transparencyandaccountability,fairtradepractices,paymentofafair
price,commitmenttonondiscrimination,genderequityandwomenseconomicempowerment,
amongothers(2013).Theproblemwiththisissueisthatitisseenasasocialissueandnot
specificallyaneconomicissue,sotheyWorldTradeOrganizationcandolittletohelpwiththe
genderinequality(Rice2010).

Argument and Significance:

The goal of this project is to find a way for there to be more gender equality in Fair
Trade. Issues that will be examined include obstacles that are preventing women from making
the same money as women, how Fair Trade organizations can shift some of the inequalities faced
by women and eventually eradicate them so that women have the same rights and access as men.
According to the Fairtrade Foundation, roughly half of the work force is comprised of women
(2015) which is an increase from past years. Even though half the force is women, they are
continually treated as less than men and put in a position where they cant create as much income
and are unable to achieve financial independence whereas their male counterparts have that
opportunity.
Even when women are given the opportunity, the model traditionally used by these organizations
is the charity approach where women create handmade artisan products such as jewelry,
handbags, pottery, and other items similar to items traditionally made by women. The charity
approach that organizations have been taken can be seen as a noose or shackle for producers
trying to move out of poverty (Hutchens 2010). They are kept in the stereotypical conditions of
women in their country which gives them no room to expand and become more independent.
They work within the framework of their culture and the Fair Trade Organizations cater to that
treatment of women, though that is not the intention. In a case study done of Fair Trade
producers in West Bengal, India, three factors have come to the surface as reasons why women
are not advancing as they should. These reasons are that men are replacing women in various
fields that were previously female-dominated, reinforcement of gender segmentation, and
female gender stereotypes being reinforced in addition to the concern of skill reproduction by
women (Das 2011). Some solutions that have been proposed but not necessarily explored to a
great extent are promoting womens participation in decision-making processes, changing the
dynamic between traditional patriarchal systems and capitalism, or certifying womens products
so that they are on a more level playing field with men (Rice 2010). According to Hutchens, To
the extent that women make up the majority of producers and potential beneficiaries from this
industry, the development of a commercially viable and professional trading and business model
in the sector is crucial to support the goal of womens empowerment in Fair Trade (2010).
Project Design/Methods/Results:
Hands-on research is the goal of this project as a Volunteer-Intern with WFTO-Asia, with
supplemental data being used as provided by WFTO. The research would take place in Southeast
Asia, with the country to be determine at the moment depending on where my assistance is
needed at the time. As a Volunteer-Intern I would be working in Communications and Research
to assist the organizations and individuals involved in coming up with new solutions or adjusting
current models to fit the needs of WFTO specific to the region I will be working in. The results
will be a combination of quantitative and creative as data is collected, analyzed, and creative
solutions are present to the problems posed. This research would address the questioned posed by
presenting concrete evidence of the inequality between the genders through data and hands-on
research in the field.
Literature Cited

Das, Ranjana. "Gender in Practices of Fair Trade and Decent Work: Production Chain Analysis
in a Fair-trade Organization in India." Gender, Technology and Development 15, no. 1
(2011): 101-25. Accessed October 2, 2015. doi:10.1177/097185241101500105.
Fairtrade Foundation. "Gender Equality Good for Women, Business and Development."
Fairtrade Foundation. March 4, 2015. Accessed October 9, 2015.
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/media-centre/news/march-2015/gender-equality-good-forwomen-business-and-development.
Hutchens, Anna. "Empowering Women through Fair Trade? Lessons from Asia." Third World
Quarterly 31, no. 3 (June 23, 2010): 449-67. Accessed October 02, 2015.
doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.488477.
Low, Will, and Eileen Davenport. 2006. "Mainstreaming fair trade: adoption,
assimilation, appropriation." Journal Of Strategic Marketing 14, no. 4: 315-327. Business
Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 14, 2015).
Rice, Js. "Free Trade, Fair Trade and Gender Inequality in Less Developed Countries."
Sustainable Development 18, no. 1 (2010;2009;): 42-50. Accessed October 2, 2015.
doi:10.1002/sd.407.
World Fair Trade Organization. "WFTO 10 Principles of Fair Trade." WFTO Asia. October 2013.
Accessed October 14, 2015. http://wfto-asia.com/credibility/charter-of-fair-tradeprinciples/.