What is Fair Trade?
nov 2nd
The last week in Holland was Fair Trade week. An initiative of Fair Trade Original, de Landelijke Vereniging van Wereldwinkels and Stichting Max Havelaar. Goal of the week was that people actively start changing the things they buy and become more aware of the many different fair trade products available in their daily lives.
What is fair trade? It basically means that the product was obtained and brought to the customer on a reciprocal basis of open dialogue, transparency of transactions and respect between trading partners. In the fair-trade chain partners vow to maintain and promote safe and healthy working conditions, freedom of union, non-extortion of children, non-discrimination and to increase equality between sexes. It also means creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers and payment of a fair price.
When can one say that a bought product was fair trade? It’s a tricky thing, fair trade. What one person might perceive as fair, an other might not. For this reason there are fairtrade-certificates that can be applied if a product has met a number of requirements. This is the case with the Max-Havelaar certificate in Holland for instance. This certificate falls under the international Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO), which has its own Fairtrade Certification Mark. Their logo is an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal.
So far so good! However, the guarantee can only be given to a number of products. See the list of FLO. Unfortunately there is no certificate labelling available for arts and handicrafts. The reason for this is that it is very difficult and expensive to judge whether a manufacturing process was completely fair. In Holland, Fair Trade Original is a brand that does the utmost to make sure that their handicraft-products are produced fair. Their logo is normally a good indicator of fair trade, because they monitor workshops in the developing countries. A guarantee, however, can not be given and monitoring costs are high.
Question is whether a certificate for handicraft necessarily is a good thing. First of all certifying is expensive. To prove that a product is fair trade, the production process must be closely monitored. Secondly, one has to know the right channels to get certified. It can be imagined that independent entrepreneurs find it hard to leverage funds for necessary consultations and don’t have the time to research the formalities of the certification process themselves. It is most easily done with the help of western investors and when local entrepreneurs group together in a craft union. Especially for artists and people that make handicrafts, this is problematic.
These considerations all play an important part in this project. How can I (and any other traveller for that matter) ensure that a talented artists meets the fair trade requirements? How can we get to a sustainable relationship between customer(s) and producer? Of course, only helping the artist to an international market for 4 days is not fair trade-proof. However, the goal is that the artists will have a small international market-research and learn to use the potential of internet so that they can present themselves on this portal in the future. Trust is still the key issue and for this reason I have a number of requirements for an artist to participate:
- The product is either art or handicraft (no food);
- The product must be hand-made (no automated machinery);
- The product is made in a way that is not harmful for the environment;
- The product is made in a way that is not harmful for the health of the artist;
- The material of the product is sustainable;
- The product must be made by the filmed artist;
- The making process must be visible in the video;
- The price must be reasonable and transparent.
Please share your opinion about fair trade for arts and handicrafts in the comments below.
Testcase: Bjørgulv and the Munnharpe
okt 15th
YES, here it is! The first video of a talented artist somewhere in the world with a special product. Bjørgulv Straume from Norway, famous for practising the munnharpe and renowned munnharpesmed (literally mouth-harp smith, also known as a Jews’ harp) shows us how he makes his instrument and gives a free performance while he’s at it. You might wonder why the first video was made in one of the richest countries in the world. Well, at first I merely wanted to have a test-case to make my first video for the project, but it turned out to be rather an intriguing visit, a visit that I don’t want to withhold from you.
What is a munnharpe, mouth-harp, Jews’ harp, or whatever the hell you call it? If you’ve never heard or seen it, this video will blow your mind. Throughout history, the Munnharpe has become a typical Norwegian instrument that is used in all kinds of folklore music. Bjørgulv performed with his munnharpe at several occasions on state visits and is regularly performing on different cultural occasions around Setesdal, the area where he lives.
The video will give you a quick insight in how Bjørgulv makes his munnharpes. He uses approximately 4 to 5 hours to make one instrument in his wooden shack behind his house in Brokke. When Bjørgulv heard about the Global Trade Project he gladly wanted to participate and make his munnharpe available for purchase via this website.
With its unique sound this instrument can be a blaze in any band or music-performance. Because the instrument is extremely easy to use (just put it on your teeth and use your mouth as a sound-box), you will learn to play it instantly. The munnharpe on which Bjørgulv performs in the video is in G. Order-options are in E, F and G. If you want to order a different tone, please let me know!
Guitar intro by Onno Prevo.
The munnharpe, made by Bjørgulv can now be ordered. Sign up for the newsletter to get instant notification when a new artist is presented!
Price (incl. shipping & tax) total: € 137,- (currency converter)
Order the Munnharpe online here.
Please help promoting Bjørgulv with the Social Media buttons and/or leave a comment!
Social Media for Fair Trade
okt 7th
It is starting. For months I have been thinking about a way to combine my passions, ambitions and ideals in a single project. I have bored family, friends, friends of friends, colleagues, random people and random people talking to random people with some form of what has now become the Global Trade Project. Now the blog has been set up proparly, it is time to start blogging!
In this blog a variety of topics related to the project will be discussed. It is important that this is done properly, because if my thesis is correct, everybody could Travel to Trade. Of course it is not my intention to be boring or be stuck in a tunnelvision regarding this project. Therefore, a number of other inspiring projects that are all about fair trade or contribute to a better world will also be discussed here. You are welcome to share your opinion or any other note in the comments below. Or you can contact me directly with interesting tips for other fairtrade initiatives, beautiful arts/handicrafts along the route or link me to people I really should meet.
Updates for this blog will not be send to you, unless you subscribe to the RSS feed (see social buttons above), or follow me on twitter. Subscribing to the newsletter will greatly help my efforts, as you will recieve an update on the precise moment that a new artist is presented. The more people viewing the video in the short timespan that the product can be purchased, the more chance an artist can sell his/her product. Of course, I don’t expect huge numbers of people buying the products, rather, every follower is a potential ambassador for the presented artists. You can rest assured that I won’t misuse your details for any other reason then notifying you of updates of the project.
For now: take a look at the website, share your thoughts, sign-up for the newsletter and follow me on twitter. Without you, this project is a blank page in the history of fairtrade and social media (not to mention it would be a bummer).
