Fair Trade and Solidarity Economy : the challenges ahead

In this summary report of the Workshop’s activities we start with a general presentation of Fair Trade: its emergence, definition, principles, objectives and successes. We end the first Section by examining the two dominant visions of the movement as identified by the Workshop. We then move on to describe the strategic challenges facing the movement at present. These are primarily certification, distribution strategies, development objectives, the impact of Fair Trade in terms of development and the environment, inequalities, communication, consumer information, possible synergies with other alternative trade initiatives, public recognition and international trade. Finally, this summary report outlines the new paradigm put forward by the Fair Trade Workshop.