Seeking markets in production fields: an assessment of the potential of fair trade in India

Abstract

Fair trade is one of the important alternative sustainable production and trade movements which has been able to sustain and spread across regions over time. After making a large presence in developed country markets for the products of developing world producers, more recently, it has begun marketing and selling its products in emerging economies such as Brazil, South Africa, Kenya and India, which were hitherto only producers, and sales are reported to be growing at very high rates annually though from a small base. This strategy is meant to target a segment of consumers with high disposable incomes in developing world. However, these markets could turn out to be very different from the developed country markets of fair trade in terms of market size and growth, consumer attitudes and preferences, and regulatory environment. This paper attempts to understand the evolution of fair trade, drivers of, supply of and demand for fair trade products at the global level and examines how different or similar India could be as a fair trade market. Inferences drawn from global experiences are used to assess the potential of India as a fair trade market and suggest ways to realize the potential. It examines how fair trade is placed in a market like India and the actions that might be required to develop India as an alternative market for Fairtrade-labelled products sourced from Indian producers. The overlap between organic and fair trade is one of the major aspects of the Indian market from supply side which is crucial to resolve to realize the fair trade market potential besides promotion and distribution strategies.