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 The fair trade movement, which aims ensure that fair prices are paid to producers in developing countries, is one of the true global success stories recent decades. The International Fairtrade Certification Mark, a guarantee that producers are getting a fair price, has become one of the most recognizable logos the world, which 91 percent of customers associate positive values. When the logo first appeared in the UK, the country where the largest number of fair-trade products are sold, nobody expected that the number of certified products would grow from only 3 to over 4,500 in just 18 years. In 2011, people around the world spent more than 6.5 billion US dollars on fair- -trade certified goods, signifying a 12 percent increase in sales from the previous year. This was at a time when most market segments in the developed world were still shrinking or stagnating from the after effects of the 2008 banking crisis. Over 1.2 million farmers and workers living in 66 countries benefit from fair- -trade certification by being able to sell their products at competitive prices, to ensure sustainability.

 Fair-trade initiatives have been growing steadily since the late 1960s, when the fair trade movement started with only a handful of committed individuals in the West who believed there was an alternative to the exploitation of farmers and workers in the developing world. Fair trade ensures fair prices for suppliers, as well as payment of a premium that can be reinvested in the local communities (for example, in schools or sanitation) or in improving productivity. In India, for instance, a group of rice farmers used the premium to buy farm machinery, which meant a 30 percent improvement in production.

 As consumers look for, and recognize, the logo and purchase fair-trade products, they put pressure on companies and governments to do more for global welfare. They also put pressure on supermarkets to sell fair-trade goods at the same price as conventional products, shifting the extra costs involved from consumers to the corporations that collect the profits.

 Critics of the fair trade movement say it is still not doing enough. They stress that the key to long-term development is not in small local improvements, but in moving the developing world from the production of raw materials into processing them, which can bring in greater profit. There are already some signs of this happening. A group of tea growers in Kenya recently set up a processing factory to deliver the final products directly to their customers in the West. By switching from the export of raw tea to boxed fair-trade products, they achieved 500 percent higher profits.

 It is important to realize that, despite all of its benefits, the fair trade movement has its limitations. Some of the poorest farmers can’t afford to pay the certification fees required for each fair-trade initiative, while others work for big, multinational employers that are excluded from participating. Fair trade is certainly a step in the right direction, but there is a lot more we must continue to do in order to help people in the world’s poorest regions.