Category: Farmworkers

279. Sizing up Nariño for the FT4All pilot

2012-05-31 Comments Off on 279. Sizing up Nariño for the FT4All pilot

On Tuesday, I announced here our involvement in an FT4All innovation pilot with independent smallholder farmers in Nariño, Colombia.  Yesterday, I explained here how our involvement came to pass.  Today, I discuss why Nariño might be the best imaginable place in the world for this pilot.  And why it might be the worst.

278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

2012-05-30 Comments Off on 278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

Yesterday we announced here that we are getting involved in an FT4All pilot project with independent smallholder farmers in Colombia.  Today we explain how it came to pass.

275. The FT4All Pilots: How to measure success

2012-05-23 Comments Off on 275. The FT4All Pilots: How to measure success

In yesterday’s post, I suggested that measuring the success of FTUSA’s FT4All coffee innovation pilots could be a complicated affair.  The best imaginable scenario, in my mind, is an impact assessment process that is transparent, system-wide, longitudinal and conducted by an independent third party with no skin in the game.  Hitting all four of those […]

274. The FT4All pilots: What does success look like?

2012-05-22 Comments Off on 274. The FT4All pilots: What does success look like?

Fair Trade USA is rolling out Fair Trade for All pilots with coffee estates and independent smallholder farmers all around the world.  If these pilots succeed, we expect to see more and more of them.  But what does success look like, and how will we measure it? I have had several good discussions of this […]

273. Fair Trade discussion on Canadian public radio

2012-05-21 Comments Off on 273. Fair Trade discussion on Canadian public radio

Got 25 minutes to spare?  Listen to this excellent discussion on CBC’s The Current between FTUSA CEO Paul Rice and Fairtrade Canada Communications Director Michael Zelmer on the changes in the Fair Trade system.  Haven’t got the time?  Here are some of the highlights.

272. The FT4All debate: It’s getting personal

Comments Off on 272. The FT4All debate: It’s getting personal

Last September, Fair Trade USA issued two controversial announcements: one about its decision to withdraw from Fairtrade International, the global Fair Trade Certifier formerly known as FLO, and another launching its Fair Trade for All initiative, which rewrites the rules of Fair Trade and opens the U.S. Fair Trade market to coffee estates. In the […]

254. CRS comment on FTUSA’s Independent Smallholder Standard

2012-04-02 Comments Off on 254. CRS comment on FTUSA’s Independent Smallholder Standard

Today we sent Fair Trade USA some comments on its proposed Independent Smallholder Standard.  The comments include contributions from CRS experts in the areas of Fair Trade, coffee, agriculture, smallholder trade, environmental sustainability and labor rights.  They were drafted in a spirit of constructive criticism, and in the hope of improving the Standard and its […]

244. FTUSA releases Independent Smallholders Standard

2012-02-13 Comments Off on 244. FTUSA releases Independent Smallholders Standard

Fair Trade USA has released a draft of its Independent Smallholders Standard (ISS) along with a four-page primer, officially opening the period of public review and comment on the way it proposes to bring smallholder farmers not currently organized into cooperatives into the U.S. Fair Trade market for the first time.   I will be conferring […]

243. FTUSA’s Independent Smallholders Standard: Periodic table of the acronyms

Comments Off on 243. FTUSA’s Independent Smallholders Standard: Periodic table of the acronyms

The Independent Smallholders Standard (ISS) released by Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) is shot through with acronyms — 35 by my count.  This periodic table of the acronyms is an essential companion to the Standard.   – – – – – Read other posts related to the FTUSA Independent Smallholders Standard.