are a window on the world which offer an understanding of and insight into various cultures in Africa, South America and Asia.

The product range in the Fair Trade shops is wide: from jewelry, decorative artefacts , textiles to toys. All products share one thing, however. They are of a special quality and constitute, at the same time, a little global trade politics. They have been marketed according to Fair Trade principles.

The shops not only trade with Fair Trade Denmark importers, but also with other suppliers approved by the international WFTO-organization. Great importance is attached to the offer not only addressing people who can afford to buy expensive and exclusive goods. Everybody must be able to buy Fair Trade goods. The more goods the shop can sell, the more the producers need to deliver.

Great efforts are made to ensure that Fair Trade goods can cope with the competition on the Danish market. Therefore, most shops are run by volunteers who are members of a nonprofit organization. In this way, shop costs are kept low and the producers are ensured fair payment.

The way of the shops to establish a competitive advantage for Fair Trade goods is comparable to the handicap system in golf which allows everyone to play against each other, regardless of huge differences in their golf skills. The Fair Trade concept is based on the idea that global trade with the third world should give the underdeveloped countries an advantage in order to create the necessary development. Thus, the shops are a necessary propagator of the intentions behind Fair Trade.

A good example:
Fair Trade Shop Lolland has become a tourist attraction on Lolland-Falster which Anne Pilø Melillo mentions in her alternative guide book, “111 places on Lolland-Falster you should see.” (Frydenlund 2018). She writes, “here you find yard long giraffes, alpaca socks from Peru and glass jewelry from Ghana. You may find offers of computer sleeves made from bike tires with a gaudy lining, rag rugs from India, batik coloured scarves and colourful shawls. Many of the products are handmade. Some of them decidedly artifacts. Often recycled materials have been used in the production: crushed glass, beer cans and paper wrapping. A decorative cock may have started life as a coke tin can. You start thinking of your own consumption when you gaze at the beautiful artefacts in your hand.

is much more than just business. In short, Fair trade means that producers in the 3^rd world get a fair price. That sounds simple and obvious, but for the small manufacturers in Africa, Latin America and Asia, low world market prices are a daily nightmare driving them into poverty and an existence where life is a struggle for survival. Fair Trade organizations want to change this and give these manufacturers a dignified existence.

On September 25, 2018, a new Charter for Fair Trade was published, which has been adopted by the big Fair trade organizations WFTO, FLO, EFTA and NEWS. In this, the vison for Fair Trade is defined in the following way:

The Fair Trade movement shares the vision of a world where trade structures and praxis are based on justice, equality and sustainable development, so that all human beings may live a decent and dignified life and fully realize their potential through their work.

Through consumer backing, the Fair Trade organizations are actively involved in supporting the producers and creating awareness of the need to change the rules and praxis of conventional trade.

An extensive presentation of the background and the work of the Fair Trade movement may be downloaded her: The international Fair Trade Charter

A good example:
In the very poor, northern part of Ghana it has been a tradition that the peasants supplement their very meagre income from self-supplying farming by selling woven baskets, produced outside the rainy season. The baskets were sold at the local markets, but prices fluctuated very much.
By developing marketable products, paying a fair price above market level and creating a stable demand, Hammershus Fairtrade has succeeded in bringing people above the poverty line, giving them an opportunity to provide for themselves and their families and paying for their children’s schooling. In other words: render a fair help-to-self help.

Fair Trade builds on the old slogan “trade not aid”; in other words, you should concentrate on fair trade rather than aid. So, Fair Trade differs from traditional development aid with a sender and an often passive receiver by involving people in their own development to a very high degree.

The core of Fair Trade is to respect human dignity by acknowledging that people often can and will act themselves, if only they get a chance to do so on fair terms and the necessary support to gain market access.

 

provides a valuable addition to improving conditions of life, more working places and schooling for the children.

The good example:
In October 2012 importer Huset ved havet /House by the Sea/ and Chituingwize Arts Centre began to cooperate on a project aiming at furthering sustainable growth and employment in slum areas outside of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The projects focus on developing the organization for its 150 members and their families and on network activities to spread the knowledge of Chitungwize Arts Centre in art circles in Zimbabwe and, not least, to increase the production of Shona Art so that the sculptors can reach more and other target groups with their traditional stone art, both in the region as well as nationally and internationally.

 The trade association Fair Trade Danmark’s vision is to lift marginalized manufacture out of poverty through good working conditions, product development, cooperation and sale of Fair Trade goods. Unlike other Fair Trade players, the principles for Fait Trade production and trade must be in force for the whole trade chain from producer to consumer and be based on WFTO’s (World Fair Trade Organisation) 10 Fair Trade standards.

By trading with as few intermediates between producer and consumer as possible, it can ensure the producer fair payment for the products. Thus, Fair Trade offers producers the possibility of moving from a vulnerable and insecure position to one of financial security and a possibility for self-support. The system may be called help to self-help.

Our products have received praise for design, form and quality, are handmade and produced under sustainable conditions.

The basic idea behind our products is a unique combination of African handicraft and Scandinavian design.  Our ideal is the development of products in an equal cooperation between producers and designers, which takes its starting point in the understanding of and respect for local handicraft traditions, culture and the socio-economic situation.

The designer participating in the cooperation is not only expected to teach, but also to learn to understand local conditions and traditions. Through this meeting, mutual understanding, learning and inspiration come into existence which, properly disseminated, will end up in innovative, competitive Fair-Trade products which appeal to larger target group than the traditional ones.

 A good example
In the video, you can hear about the important role that trading have for producers and society, and also get a sneak peak at how we work with the design of new products using Fairtrade principles :