Rationale for Fair trade Rice

While many basmati farmers successfully participate in the export market, there are great numbers of small-scale basmati rice growers in India who make a very poor living from it. Usually these farmers sell to agents at the local market, getting low rates which don’t always even cover their costs of production. They are often extremely in debt to the local agents as a result of taking out high interest rate loans from them to pay for supplies. Company buyers therefore don’t deal in person with exacting farmers and develop relationships because they buy incognito via agents or through the auction.

Fair-trade has the potential to bring unique benefits to these farmers:

•The chance to organize and to develop a direct relationship with the exporter.

•To deepen their knowledge of rice agriculture and trade.

•To receive a fair price to cover their costs of production with a premium to advance in improving their agricultural practices as well as in meeting social needs of the community - such as improved educational opportunity,establishment of financing facilities and improved sanitation in the villages.

•To improve the position of recurring harvest workers. At harvest time, farmers often use day laborers and the farmers groups are bearing in mind how to extend the benefits of Fair-trade to those groups too.

In history rice is milled in India by exporters and stored it until it is needed. The rice is then exported as unpolished brown rice and processed in European mills because increasing tariffs made it uneconomic to export processed rice. Now that the EU has reduced the tariff for polished basmati to €175 it is feasible to export processed white rice to the UK.

However, the problems of rice farmers international have been compounded by the USA heavily subsidize its farmers and then dumping their surplus rice on developing country markets, so driving local farmers out of business. In this context, rice is often quote as a classic example of double standards – with the EU and USA protecting their domestic rice farmers while forcing developing country governments to stop subsidizing their farmers and to lift any protective barriers – with disastrous penalty. Major NGOs such as Oxfam and Christian Aid are running campaigns highlighting these problems in the rice industry.

Fair Trade Rice

Rice is a food steeped in tradition. While the correct origin of rice is in dispute, the particle most likely originated 6,000 years ago wherever in modern Thailand or Southeast China. Due to this long history, the same word means ‘rice’ and to eat in many languages and sacred holidays revolve around the cycle of planting, transplant, and harvesting.

The early on development of rice farming is attributed to the Chinese. The grain was then dispersed via 3 Asian Routes and as it modified to different climates the Japonica, Indica, and Javanica variety were created.

Around the 17th century, European exporters brought Asian rice from Malacca to be grown in Europe, Africa, and South and Central America. Rice farming extends to North America circa 1609 in Virginia, later growing to California, Florida, Arkansas, and Texas. 

Responding to the status of aromaticrice, researchers are furthering this adaptation by genetically modifying Jasmine and Basmati rice varieties for farming in the United States.

Today, rice is refined in a variety of ways, from the fully automatic techniques of the West, where rice is produced in a manner similar to wheat, to the less-capital rigorous methods of Asian regions, where rice is refined in rain fed paddies. Nevertheless, 4-5 of the world's rice is grown by small-scale farmers in low-income countries, with 90% coming from Asia.

In many of these countries rice is the main single crop grown by the largest number of people. For example, in Vietnam it is grown by 2 out of every 3 households. Therefore, changes in rice prices affect a large section of the world's populace and rice policy decisions have political and historical consequences.

Fair trade tea and coffee in facts

Fair Trade Facts

1. The concept of fair trade has been around for over 40 years but a formal labeling scheme wasn't launch until the late 1980s.

2. The first Fairtrade label was launched in 1988. It was branded Max Havelaar, after an imaginary Dutch character who opposed the use of coffee pickers in Dutch colonies.

3. In 1994, the 1st Fairtrade certified product was launched. Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate was shortly followed by Cafe direct coffee and Clipper tea.

4. In 1997, Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International was established in Bonn, Germany to unite the labeling initiative under one umbrella and establish international standards and certification.

5. Nineteen of the 20 national Fairtrade schemes are now affiliated to the FLO

6. In 2001, Garstang in the UK declared itself the world first Fairtrade Town. There are now more than 320 Fairtrade Towns, 4,000 Fairtrade Churches, 37 Fairtrade Synagogues, and 60 Fairtrade universities across the UK.

7. One in all four bananas sold in UK supermarket is now Fairtrade with sales top GBP150m in 2007.

8. UK consumers spent GBP493m on products moving the Fairtrade mark in 2007.

9. Every day, UK consumers drink more than 8m Fairtrade hot drinks

10. As of the end of 2007, there were some 632 Fairtrade Certified Producer Organizations, on behalf of over 1.4m farmers and workers, in 58 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

11. The Fairtrade scheme has its opponent. The Adam Smith Institute claims that the programmed sustains collegial farmers on their land, holding back diversification, mechanization and denies future generation the chance of a better life.

12. Tate & Lyle is to move its whole retail cane sugar range to Fairtrade.

The Fair trade Tea producers

Tea is still grown as a typical plantation product. Tea plantations have both agricultural and business features. The work in the tea gardens is basically of an agricultural and labor-intensive nature. The planting, maintenance and harvest are done by hand. In tropical areas, the tea can be chosen all the year round, the work mostly being done by women. The leaves are put in baskets or bags which the women carry on their backs.. The processing has a large-scale and industrial character. In the factory, where the tea undergoes five different treatments, the work is largely mechanized and accounts for only some 10% of total employment in the tea sector.

Plantation work the situation of the people employed at the plantations can differ both between and within producing countries, but in general one can say that tea producers, e.g. plantation owners or state enterprises, can only survive with tea prices if the tea workers' wages are low too. Many claims for the completion of labor laws and least amount wages remain unattained for the tea pickers and or tea workers. In India, for instance, the plantation sector was formally reformed after independence and laws for the protection of workers were passed. However, controls on the completion of the law are fake, and the sanction for breaking laws are so least that plantation owners are hardly affected by them. The implementation of the law is thus in essence left to the employers, and the improvement of working conditions is clearly not the first priority for the companies.

In South India, around the cities and on the larger plantation, the conditions are comparatively good. In the North and the North-East, many tea pickers still live and work in miserable situations. The personnel in the Indian tea sector are highly organized. But there may be strong rivalry between the various unions on the tea plantations, and the labor conflict thus caused is rather to the difficulty of the workers and to the benefit of the management. The 'elected' union leaders do not always present the interests of the group of men and women working on the plantation. The farm workers belong to the lowest socio-economic group and have many women and Advise among them. The union leaders are often outsiders from the middle class. Besides being indifferent, some of them are even prejudiced against Advise, women and unskilled labor.

Small tea farmers although tea is usually a plantation product, in many countries it is also refined by small- scale producers. In Sri Lanka, for instance, more than half the tea crop is produced by small tea farmers and in Nilgiris small-scale production is main. Kenyan tea comes almost exclusively from small farmers' cooperatives. The cultivation of tea is attractive to small farmers; tea provides work and income the all through the year, requires relatively little investment, and the risk of complete crop failure is rather small. Small farmers sell their crop to middlemen, to plantations or to 'bought leaf factories' - factories which buy up green tea, process and sell it. The prices paid for the green tea are usually low. According to the mediators, the tea supplied by small farmers is inferior to the cultivated area product. This of course depresses the price paid to them even further. Besides, small farmers may lack the resources to afford the necessary technical input.

Fair Trade Tea Sales Volume

Fair Trade tea is a fairly different case, as it is not produced only by small-scale, independent farmers but also by large estates that use hired labor. In a sense, we should admit that we can't help only the laborers and set aside the land owners when certifying a tea plantation.

 The solution adopt for this situation has been to create the so-called Joint Bodies in the plantation. These Joint Bodies assemble and discuss the issues which affect the life and future of the laborer, for example, how to use the Fair Trade Premium, i.e. the extra amount of money that Fairtrade certified plantations get on top of the Fair price for their output. 

SALE VOLUME OF FAIR TRADE

YEAR

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

United Kingdom

806

1.089

1.421

1.854

2.839

Germany

155

157

155

155

163

France

31

52

109

181

279

U.S.A.

55

52

79

188

286

Netherlands

67

60

57

59

57

Switzerland

42

37

35

35

33

all others

110

76

109

142

230

total

1.266

1.523

1.965

2.614

3.887

Some beautiful examples of the many Fair Trade benefits are pointed out on Miles Litvinoff's 50 Reasons to buy Fair Trade motivating book. One of them refers to pickers of a Fair Trade tea plantation in Nigeria Mountains (India) who could give up work and have a retirement pension! Thanks to a wise use of the Fair Trade best. Tea is one of the Fair Trade foods for which FLO has developed a document with the Fair price to be paid (btw, new Fairtrade tea minimum prices have become efficient in February 2008, ranging from 1,20 to 2,00 USD/kg). 

 

When, after appraisal, the producer is find worthy of certification, the identify label is granted and can be shown by the product, so we all can recognize it! 

 

Heavy tea drinkers happen to be in Ireland, Poland and the United Kingdom, so it is no shock that the U.K. leads the world in Fairtrade tea use, as the table shows; a nice 6 % of all tea sold in the U.K. has been fairly traded.

How to infuse loose leaf tea

Brewing loose tea is easy if you start with well tea, add high quality water and steep to your personal taste. We have given the following general rule to get you started. Feel free to adjust the steeping time or amount of tea to your tastes.

Basic steps for Brewing Loose Tea

1.Select any kind of pot or cup you like. 

2.Rinse the brew vessel with hot water then add the right amount of tea leaves. 

3.Pour the right hotness of water over the tea leaves. 

4.Wait for the leaves to infuse for the time listed above. Adjust time depending on your taste, longer brews for a richer taste, shorter for a lighter taste.

 Brewing Tips 

 

•Don’t forget that all Chinese loose leaf tea can be brewed many times.

Subsequent cups will not only yield different flavors but even more nutrition. Just continue to add more of the same temperature of water over your leaves.

•Leaves of White Tea, Green Tea or Yellow Tea can be infused about four times.

•Leaves of Black Tea or Scented Tea can be infused about five times.

•Leaves of Oolong Tea or Pure Tea can be infused more than five times.

•Other than your tea, water and vessel, you often won’t need any extra equipment like an infuser basket or ball. Loose tea steeps wonderfully on its own! In fact, the most popular way to drink tea in China is to just put tea leaves in a cup or pot and pour water over them without using any kind of strainer.

•Try brewing your favorite teas in a tall glass. This simple way of brewing tea is popular in China because it allows the drinker to be grateful for the shape and color of the infusing tea leaf. Although most whole tea leaves will settle down to the bottom of your cup once they hydrate, some leaves and buds will still naturally float on the surface of the water. Just blow them out of the way before sipping. By the second or third infusion all of the tea leaves should be at the bottom.