Fair Trade aims to create a trade model based on justice. Whilst the current model places profit over people, the Fair Trade scheme values people over and above profits.

The aim of Fair Trade is to offer assistance to small farmers without paternalism, providing them with a means to develop as independent producers as opposed to passive recipients of occasional acts of generosity.[i]

By ensuring strict economic, social and environmental standards throughout the coffee supply chain, FAIR Trade can represent for ADIPSA an instrument for sustainable development.

Direct trade

Fair Trade cuts out many of the stages on the long coffee supply chain, guaranteeing that our producers capture a greater share in the benefits of international trade. Cash-strapped and geographically isolated coffee producers (like those in San Agustin) do not have access to processing, storing or transportation facilities, leaving them vulnerable to middlemen. Yet by forming an association of smallholders and selling directly to the Fair Trade market, we avoid middlemen who in previous years would buy up coffee harvests at below market prices.

The direct nature of the Fair Trade scheme restores the link between producer and consumer, creating a sense of mutual trust. On the on hand, our coffee producers commit themselves to produce high quality coffee, whilst adhering to strict social and environmental criteria and in return they benefit from a decent income. On the other hand, the consumer (in the US, where ADIPSA's coffee will be sold from 2005 onwards as Guatemalan-origin coffee) pays a fair price for the coffee and in return benefits from a quality product and the knowledge that it has been produced using sustainable techniques and traded ethically.

External support and ADIPSA's efforts on the ground

The success of our Coffee commercialisation project owes a lot to the funding and support provided by Intermón Oxfam. This NGO has been an essential link between our organisation and the international Fair Trade market. But the efforts and devotion of our own coffee producers over the last six years are also a key element in the success of our coffee project. They have assumed responsibility for their coffee, putting in hard work over the years to improve production techniques (sowing, soil management, pest control, harvesting and processing. In the Fair Trade scheme, our coffee producers are active participants in the development process.

Sustainable development

Fair Trade unites our concerns for economic, social and environmental sustainability in the communities of San Agustín. Fair trade is an inclusive scheme, where everyone in the production chain and the wider community benefits. It represents a radical alternative to the current model which has excluded small producers for so long. Fair Trade guarantees that the benefits of trade are shared amongst our farmers in the rural communities of San Agustín in Central Guatemala. By granting our coffee producers the opportunity to improve their quality of life and become empowered, Fair Trade is an instrument of sustainable development.

1. See Café: Guía del Exportador, p. 92 (International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO, Geneva, 2002), p. 92
2. ADIPSA, like the vast majority of small producers, sells semi-processed or parchment coffee. Parchment refers to the thin film that covers the coffee bean after it has gone through a washing and pulping process. Coffee prices quoted on world markets refer to green coffee F.O.B. (Freight On Board), which is coffee that has been further processed to remove the thin parchment film from the bean prior to shipping (or toasting). Although producing green coffee captures added value, the conversion process from parchment to green coffee requires expensive equipment which is beyond the reach of smallholders.