Fairtrade International Is Building a More Equitable Future Through Digital Technologies

what is fairtrade

Fairtrade believes that digitalization and fairness are the way of the future. Here’s all you need to know about Fairtrade’s efforts to digitize fairness and ensure ethical fair trade standards are met. Fairtrade International aims to do so through their FairMarket strategy that focuses on the three “Ts”: traceability, transparency, and trading.

  1. Fairtrade promotes traceability by providing equal and fair access to data. (more…)
  1. Fairtrade promotes transparency by providing fair market access. (more…)
  1. Through digitization, Fairtrade promotes innovation for products and trading. (more…)

Background Information: What is Fair Trade?

Full Report: Digitalizing for Fairness

Traceability Through Fair Access To Data

Information is essential, especially in the digital age, which is why Fairtrade promotes information traceability. Here is how Fairtrade plans to create a strong commitment to equal and fair access to data.

  • To ensure that local cooperatives can have access to their own data (that they can utilize to expand their market access and become more responsive to market changes), Fairtrade began collaborating with their business partners in 2019 to create a system solution that commits to providing fair access to data for the cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. 
  • Under this system, farmers will have more control over their own operations. Fair data access can enhance relations with their consumers, as farmers will be capable of informing customers on how their products are grown or manufactured. Local farmers’ cooperatives will be able to track their farms and monitor their purchases on each farm, providing better traceability to the whole process. 

Transparency Through Fair Access To Market

Fairtrade promotes transparency by providing fair market access. Here’s how the transparency system works: 

  • Fairtrade believes that fair and transparent market access is necessary for farmers to emphasize their value and that consumers should be guaranteed direct digital connectivity with farmers. This will provide transparency into how their purchases influence the lives of farmers, the environment, and social justice.

Fairtrade’s ‘FairMarket’ strategy aims to digitalize the business operations of smallholder farmers. This digitization of operations will not only ensure traceability and transparency but will also help to make the supply chain more transparent and efficient.

Trading And Product Innovation Through Digitalization

Fairtrade’s digitalizing for fairness program necessitates a continuous effort to innovate new products and technologies that allow for increased transparency. Here’s how Fairtrade plans to digitalize the fair trading system:

  • Improving market effectivity through digital technologies that provide the consumers or retailers with up-to-date estimates so that they may be informed about the current production and the available products.
  • Using digital technology to provide farmers and cooperatives with market access. Fairtrade is also working to utilize digital platforms to ensure that information is freely accessible to Fairtrade’s worldwide network of 1.9 million farmers from over 70 countries across the globe.
  • All the members of the fairtrade network could benefit through digital innovation. Fairtrade’s new and innovative digital platform, where data is absolutely transparent, allows for increased transparency in the supply chain, and thus, increased fairness throughout.

Sources: 

“Digitalizing for Fairness.” Fairtrade International, February 21, 2022. https://www.fairtrade.net/news/digitalizing-for-fairness

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