FEBRUARY 2018

competition between certified producers. Balancing
supply with demand is one of the challenges of
the movement, particularly given the time-lag in
preparing producer organisations for certification.
FARMING PERFORMANCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
There has been limited emphasis on farming
performance and improvement in crop yields
within Fairtrade certification, though it has been
growing over time.
Other certification systems, such as Good
Agricultural Practice (GAP) and UTZ Certified, have
emphasised increased yields, product quality and
attributes as a way to improve producers’ incomes.
Fairtrade has focused more on regulating prices,
trading relationships, strengthening organisations
and governance. Its certification requirements
have not focused on ‘good agricultural practice’ or
specific measures to increase yields or quality.
Indeed, a high proportion of Fairtrade-certified
producers are also certified organic, which is also
likely to influence yields. Evidence has been found
of Fairtrade-certified farmers achieving higher
yields than non-certified farmers, though the
reasons for this were usually hard to disaggregate.
It may be partly due to the strengthening of
organisational structures and services that result
from Fairtrade certification, or from extension
programmes that may be associated with it. It may
also be due to the prior selection of farmers for
certification who were already achieving higher
yields. In some cases, Fairtrade buyers or other
intermediaries may add or incentivise quality
requirements when selecting farmers.
Comparative studies have also shown that other
certification schemes which focus primarily on
‘good agricultural practice’ are more closely
correlated with higher yield production, though
these studies face the same potential problem of
selection bias. Fairtrade objectives are much clearer
for environmental protection. Achievement of
defined standards on such issues as management of
water and soil use, pest control and use of pesticides,
fertiliser application and biodiversity conservation
are included as Fairtrade Standards for both
small producer organisations and plantations.
Research shows positive impacts of certification
and environment-related standards on farming
practices in small producer organisations and
plantations. But given the prevalence of joint
Fairtrade-Organic certification, this may be
due, in part, to the organic certification process.
Other research found that these positive effects
may result from the strength of co-operative
organisation, or from agroecological approaches
promoted by other organisations, rather than from
Fairtrade certification per se.
INVESTMENT OF THE FAIRTRADE PREMIUM
The Fairtrade Premium is set periodically for
each certified commodity and each region. This
is usually a fixed payment per unit of weight, or
as a percentage of the commercial price paid, for
commodities where no minimum price is set. This
is one of the most visible pathways for Fairtrade
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