“Õiglasest” kohvist ehk südametunnistuse lüpsmisest
Mind ajab jätkuvalt muigama, kui keegi kirjutab "õiglasest" kohvist, kuid tänane Päevaleht teatab, et Solarises tegutseb nädala lõpuni lausa Õiglane kohvik, mille kohta kirjutab Maris Meiessaar:
“Ühe Eesti pere jaoks on otsus, millist teed või kohvi juua, väike samm. Kuid valides Fairtrade märgiga tooted, teeb see pisike tarbimisotsus head paljudele arengumaade väiketalunikele ja nende peredele,” lausus Välja. Fairtrade märgiga toodete müük aitab maailmas 1,2 miljonit väiketalunikku ja istanduse töötajat ning nende ligi seitset miljonit pereliiget.
Kui see oleks vaid nii lihtne, et "õiglast" kaupa ostes võiks inimesed veendunult väita, et nad on teinud "head paljudele arengumaade väiketalunikele ja nende peredele", kuid kahjuks see nii ei ole. Kusjuures esimesed vihjed sellest, et "õiglasest" kohvist rääkimine ja endale uhkelt õlale patsutamine ei pruugi olla sugugi õigustatud, ilmnesid juba 2004. aastal, kui Christian Science Monitor'is ilmus artikkel Small coffee brewers try to redefine fair trade:
Another sticking point inside the movement are the requirements for being certified. Germany's Fair Labeling Organization (FLO), which certifies all fair-trade coffee in the world, charges farmers $2,431 to certify plus an annual base of $607 for recertification and $.02 per 2.2 pounds of coffee sold under the fair-trade label.Stuck in the middle of the controversy is the rural Nicaraguan coffee cooperative of El Porvenir, located on a 2,000-acre swath of land in the volcanic highlands. This village of 255 people produces a modest 45,000 pounds of organic coffee beans in a good year and has been trying for three years to get certified as fair trade by FLO.Mike Woodard of the Nicaraguan ecumenical organization Jubilee House Community, says he helped the village fill out a certification questionnaire in 2001, but never received a response. FLO did not answer questions about why they have not visited the community, but spokesman Simen Sandberg says that seldom do they certify producers who harvest less than 44,000 pounds per year – almost the exact amount El Porvenir harvested last year.
2007. aastal ilmus aga lausa kaks natuke pikemat ja põhjalikumat "õiglase" kohvi majandusliku mõju hindavat uurimust. Neist esimene, pealkirjaga Fair Trade Coffee Enthusiasts Should Confront Reality (PDF) heidab pilgu sellele, kuidas reaalsus erineb müügijutust:
A large gap divides the story depicted by Fair Trade marketing materials from the standards of FLO and the ad- vantages of producer participation. This misleading representation of Fair Trade has led many socially conscious coffee drinkers to hold unexamined assumptions about the benefits of Fair Trade.In trying to boost sales many retailers claim that Fair Trade coffee guarantees a living wage to coffee growers. A major promoter of Fair Trade coffee, Global Exchange (2005), states on its website, “Fair Trade guarantees to poor farmers organized in cooperatives around the world: a living wage.” While it remains to be seen what constitutes a “living wage,” in reality, Fair Trade guarantees nothing to producers.. . .Most Fair Trade certified produc- ers sell a fraction of their coffee to the Fair Trade market and the rest to the conventional market. FLO increases the supply of Fair Trade coffee by certifying additional producer organizations and channeling existing production into the Fair Trade market, not by inducing farm- ers to grow more coffee.. . .Quality standards have risen significantly since 2000. Furthermore, beginning in 2004 FLO began charging producer organizations $3,200 to become certified.6 These increasing demands are easily understood when viewed in a market context of excess supply. In other words, barriers to entering the Fair Trade market have intensified to equilibrate supply and demand in a market with a price floor.
Lisaks ilmus 2007. aastal ka uurimus Does Fair Trade Coffee Help the Poor? Evidence from Costa Rica and Guatemala, mis annab hea ülevaate kohviturust ja selle toimimisest laiemalt nagu ka ülevaate Fair Trade sertifitseerimisprotsessist ja nüanssidest, millest Õiglase kohviku pidajad tõenäoliselt informeeritud ei ole:
- A one-size-fits-all organizational struc- ture, as imposed by Fair Trade rules, discourages competition in the global coffee market.
- The rules of Fair Trade, at least in the coffee industry, do nothing to address the situation of the industry’s poorest segment.
- Fair Trade may encourage the employ- ment of scarce resources in high-cost, low-quality growing areas that could find better uses than coffee production, thereby limiting the long-term success of the individuals it is attempting to help.
- Only a small portion, if any, of the price increase goes directly to poor farmers.
- Artificially raising the prices for coffee can lead to many unintended conse- quences, such as creating an incentive to increase supply, which would lead to even lower payments to farmers in the future.
Kui aga eelnevad viited tunduvad liiga "parempoolsed", siis 2009. aasta lõpus ilmus Guardian'is artikkel Not so fair trade, mis väärib tähelepanu enda loetavuse ja suhtelise värskuse poolest.
Mida kõigest sellest järeldada? Eks ikka seda, et Fair Trade on rohkem arenenud riikide kodanikele mõeldud südametunnistuse kergendus, mille väidetav kasu on reaalsuses tilluke ja üpris piiratud. Üksikute vähemvaeste kasu nullivad aga ära kõige vaesemate kitsendatud võimalused ja sertifitseerimisprotsessi nüansid. Kui on soov arenguriikide kohvikasvatajaid tõesti aidata, siis eelistage parem kõrge kvaliteediga või muidu erilist kohvi, mis võimaldab tootjatel teiste eristuda ja enda brändile toetust leida.
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