Fair wages for farm labourers? Fair trade in search of better employment conditions in the weakest link of its value chain

Consumers relate fair trade to products of ‘small farmers’ who work in cooperatives. This image is not really correct because already in 1994 a first large tea plantation became fair trade certified.

Twenty years later fair trade labels source bananas, tea, flowers and wine from large farm businesses, while the debate whether this is the way to go is still raging.

Central to the debate is the living wage concept, a fair wage for all workers – including seasonal workers