Green Options » Market Access http://greenoptions.com/tag/market-access Posts tagged 'Market Access' Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:51:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Is Fair Trade Mere Hype? http://ecoworldly.com/2008/06/04/is-fair-trade-mere-hype/ http://ecoworldly.com/2008/06/04/is-fair-trade-mere-hype/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:51:16 +0000 Masimba Biriwasha http://ecoworldly.com/2008/06/04/is-fair-trade-mere-hype/ Imagine an elderly man toiling under the hot sun to weed a crop of cotton in a remote African village. When the crop is harvested, a middleman appears in the name of free market trade and purchases it at a ridiculously low price.

Due to lack of information and access to markets, the poor farmer, like many others in his village, is left with little choice but to part with his crop.

Most likely, he will not be able to afford healthcare, or send his children to school, and all his sweat will go to fattening the purse of a huge conglomerate in the global north. The conglomerate will process the cotton (or whatever product it is) into a good that the poor farmer can only dream of purchasing.

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