This campaign has now closed

Traidcraft Exchange’s Promoting Fair Trade in India (PROFIT) project marks the start of a long-term initiative to bring the benefits of fair trade to poor producers in India. With its emphasis on fair wages, fair treatment and long-term relationships, fair trade has the potential to help many thousands to achieve sustainable livelihoods through the trading relationship. Despite continued economic growth in India, which has led to greater prosperity nationally, poverty levels still vary widely across different states, with some 350 million people still living in absolute poverty. However, the rapid growth of an increasingly affluent middle class (which outnumbers the entire population of the US) has created a massive opportunity to create a domestic fair trade market within India that will deliver some of the benefits of the economic boom to those who have not yet benefitted. PROFIT will lay the groundwork for this long-term initiative, putting in place the necessary infrastructure to ensure the sustainability, once established, of the Indian fair trade movement.

100%
Categories

  • Education/Training/Employment Education/​Training/​Employment
  • Poverty Alleviation/Relief Poverty Alleviation/​Relief
  • Beneficiaries

    Situation

    Since its launch in 2006, PROFIT has gathered considerable momentum. The project already has considerable support from key decision makers, whose commitment and enthusiasm are helping to drive the project forward. Setting up the Indian system Initial research into different fair trade models and their applicability in the Indian context has informed the basic structure of an Indian fair trade system. To set this up this system we are undertaking: • an awareness campaign among Indian consumers of the concept of fair trade • the formation of appropriate fair trade standards • the creation of a fair trade certification body to help promote consumer confidence in domestic fair trade products • the development of support systems for small pro-poor businesses. Activities already underway PROFIT is developing a distribution and retail network for the sale of fair trade products in India and building the capacity of small fair trade producer groups so that they can benefit from this new market opportunity. We have also built a website to link fair trade producers with consumers and other stakeholders. We recently held a meeting with key players (mostly representatives of producer organisations) from sectors that could aid the development of the domestic fair trade market and supply it’s first products. We are soon to mark an important milestone with the launch in 2008 of a fair trade label for India called Shop for Change. The awareness campaign is a long term activity and is one of the aspects of the project that still requires funding to gain the maximum benefits from the work already done. Next steps More of the activities planned for the coming months and years are in fact already underway: defining standards, further developing the distribution and retail network for fair trade products, and providing a training, mentoring and support programme for pro-poor small businesses. However again, we are in need of funding to complete these activities. Sharing learning to benefit other countries It is important also that Indian and Asian stakeholder groups are brought together in a national workshop to share learning achieved from the Indian initiative, consider the possibility of similar initiatives in other countries, and build supportive relationships between the various Asian countries for long term commitment to fight poverty through trade (a basic vision of all fair trade organisations). Outcomes Over its three year duration, PROFIT is expected to directly benefit about 40,000 poor and marginalised producers (of whom about 80% will be women), though many thousands more will benefit as the initiative develops. As a result of the creation of a domestic fair trade market in India, poor producers will benefit from: • increased income • more sustainable employment • improved access to domestic markets • more sales • greater ability to meet the demand for fair trade products.

    Solution

    100%
    Categories

  • Education/Training/Employment Education/​Training/​Employment
  • Poverty Alleviation/Relief Poverty Alleviation/​Relief
  • Beneficiaries