Who checks on where the fair trade coffee money goes?

A French economist has recently published a book which takes a very critical look at the Max Havelaar Foundation. The Foundation, formed in the Netherlands in1988, argued for and established what we now see globally as the fair trade movement.

However, the author of the book suggests that all is not well in the management of fair trade.

I haven’t seen the book, but based on this article at swissinfo.org, there are some questions than need addressing.

For instance, the author suggests that there are almost no checks in place to ensure that farmers actually receive the extra money we pay when buying fair trade products.

"There are only 54 inspectors around the world, working on a part-time freelance basis to check and control a million producers. These checks do not take place on the ground but in offices, hotel rooms or even by fax."

I hesitate to draw fast conclusion from a short quote from an online article, and the article leaves much unexplained.

However, regardless of points of detail, if there is any truth in the charge that there is inadequate policing of how and whether the right amount of money gets into the hands of fair trade farmers’ cooperatives, then we have a problem.

If ever the day comes when the major, popular press runs a front page story on how the fair trade movement “defrauds” participating farmers, that is the day when the entire movement could begin to crumble.

Fair and timely payment to farmers is central to consumer participation in fair trade. People pay the extra money, and trust that it will get into the right hands.

If that trust is betrayed, people will no longer be prepared to pay more for fair trade products and produce.