Fairtrade has changed [conditions] a lot... women and men now have the same rights. There are regular working hours, fixed leave days, and significantly improved safety regulations.
Rosemary Achieng, supervisor, Panda Flowers Farm, Kenya
Key Issues
Key Issues
Fairtrade’s holistic approach aims to address a number of important topics and themes.
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Child labour
Worldwide 160 million children are still in child labour. It’s a deep rooted problem that needs a holistic approach to solve.
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Climate change
Farmers are on the front line of climate change. For millions of farming families and communities worldwide, the impacts of climate change are a daily reality.
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Decent livelihoods
A decent standard of living – one that covers basic needs and supports an existence worthy of human dignity – is a human right. But small-scale farmers and agricultural workers – despite growing the crops that drive supply chains worth billions on the global market – too often live in poverty.
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Environment
Nature is in crisis. Farming covers more than a third of the world’s land surface, and is the main driver of deforestation.
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Forced labour
Slavery was supposedly abolished years ago. Yet today millions of people worldwide are exploited to do work against their will.
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Gender equality
Around 60-80 percent of the world’s food is grown by women. Yet they often don’t own the land and see little of the profit made from it.
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Human rights
There is growing global consensus that companies need to show their respect for people and planet by conducting due diligence on human rights and the environment. Fairtrade supports all supply chain actors in their due diligence efforts.
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HREDD
Legislation is needed – voluntary initiatives like certifications are not sufficient to solve human rights violations in global supply chains. But ambitious certifications like Fairtrade can offer invaluable support to Human Rights Environmental Due Diligence work by companies, workers and farmers.
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SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals aim to end poverty “in all its forms, everywhere”, while leaving no one behind. This ambition is central to Fairtrade’s mission.
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Workers' rights
Workers on farms and in factories are among the most vulnerable people in global trade. See how Fairtrade is working for workers.
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Putting farmers and workers at the center of due diligence legislation
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Living Income Reference Prices
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Living income
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Living wage
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Supply chain collaboration
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SDG1
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SDG2
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SDG5
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SDG8
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Trade unions
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SDG12
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SDG13
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SDG17
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Remediating child labour
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Environmental risks
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Mitigating risks
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Access to remedy