Fruit producer – Maria Rosario

Hello, my name is Maria Rosario. I’m 35 and I am a fruit producer in Dominican Republic.
I’d like to tell you more about fair trade.

Fair trade offers a direct, simple method to improve the situation of producers in developing countries. When they buy a fair trade product, consumers and businesses play a significant role in improving the balance of global wealth and power in a simple day-to-day transaction.

By joining campaigns organised by fair trade organisations, citizens can pressure businesses to act responsibly for all those who have interests in their operations, from producers to consumers.

Through fair trade campaigns, citizens can also encourage political decision-makers to introduce measures in international legislation and to ensure a more human-centred, equitable world trade order.

Fair trade aims to contribute to the reduction of poverty in the South. It permits marginalized producers in the South to gain access to Northern markets. This alternative trade enables communities to play an active part in their own development, while at the same time satisfying a consumer demand in the North.

The fundamental characteristic of fair trade is that of equal partnership and respect. Partnership between the Southern producers and Northern importers, fair trade shops and consumers.

Fair trade humanises the trade process, making the producer-consumer chain as short as possible so that consumers become aware of the culture, identity and conditions in which producers live. 

All actors are committed to the principle of fair trade and the need for transparency in their working relations. The idea of the ‘invisible hand’ has been replaced by the idea of working ‘hand in hand’.