Fairtrade Letzebuerg have presented how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Fairtrade concept, from producers, workers to consumers.
Bangladesh - March 2020: Garment factories face order cancellations worth more than $2 billion.
Iran / China - March 2020: These two countries stoppe their imports of tea, leaving 50 million kilos of stocks.
Kenya / Ethiopia - March 2020: Rose plantations destroy entire lots following the drastic drop in global demand, a loss of between €1.8 and €2.2 billion. Nearly 66,000 workers are affected.
India - April 2020: Importers cancel their orders. Sugar factories can only pay 20 to 25% of payments to producers.
Peru - May 2020: The work of banana producers is disrupted by the scarcity of labour, the obligation to respect social distancing and the increase in production costs caused, in particular, by the costs of protective equipment.
Peru - March - August 2020: Artisanal gold mines must remain closed which means no wages for workers.
Cambodia - April 2021: 784,000 people employed by Cambodia's textile, footwear and leather goods industry lost $109 million in wages.
As these examples show, the health and economic crisis that we are still experiencing today has had and will continue to have repercussions on the most vulnerable, including producers and workers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Each country and each sector experiences the crisis differently, but the risks and certain consequences remain similar. Firstly, a risk to the health of producers and workers and their families, directly linked to the epidemic and the congestion of health structures, which are not very robust in most of the 70 or so producer countries with which the Fairtrade movement works. Added to this are the economic and food security consequences linked to the slowdown in activity, logistics shortages in supply chains, increased production costs (rarer and more expensive labour, transport, etc., anti-Covid protection) and therefore to job losses as well as the failure to repay bank loans by producers, cooperatives and plantations. Finally, the risks of human rights violations have increased: the drop in exports is accompanied by layoffs and if job offers are scarce, workers may be inclined to accept indecent pay and working conditions. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that more than a billion children were unable to go to school during the pandemic, the majority of them in producing countries. Even after the pandemic, many of them are likely not to return to school.
In addition, poverty, one of the main risk factors for child labour, has increased around the world due to COVID-19. According to the report by the International Labor Organization and Unicef published in June 2021, the number of child victims of child labour stands at 160 million worldwide. They warn that nine million more children are at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic.
While all sectors have been hit hard by the pandemic, two sectors have been more severely affected, namely the flower sector and the tea sector. Unfortunately, the plantations did not have sufficient financial resources to keep and pay the unemployed workers. These employees did not benefit from any social protection or compensatory income in the event of job loss and therefore find themselves in a position of struggling to survive.
In the South: adaptability and resilience to give producers and workers the means to resist
In March 2020, the Fairtrade movement urgently decreed the possibility for producer and worker organisations to use the Fairtrade Development Premium for immediate action to protect the safety and health of producers, workers and their communities.
The premium was used, for example, to finance masks, gloves, cleaning products, and also to buy seeds and basic necessities. In addition, it allowed Fairtrade organisations to pay part of the wages, for example in certified gold mines in Peru where wages were paid for the duration of the lockdown.
In parallel, the Fairtrade movement launched two support funds for producers and workers in the South amounting to more than €15 million. The Fairtrade Producer Relief Fund enables organisations to meet the basic needs of their members. The Fairtrade Producer Resilience Fund was set up to meet the long-term needs of Fairtrade organisations planning after COVID-19. Whether it is an economic recovery, technological investments, financing of awareness programmes to limit the risks of human rights violations, strengthening of finances to prevent risks, this fund allows fair trade players to secure and strengthen supply chains. In order to respond as closely as possible to the needs on the ground, these funds are managed by the networks of producers themselves, guided by their knowledge and experience of local dynamics.
Alongside these measures, the networks of Fairtrade organisations, cooperatives and plantations have done a tremendous job in adapting as quickly as possible and above all in finding "survival" solutions for their members. The market had to be rethought by entering local markets to sell perishable food, adapt activities to ensure security by developing, for example, local income-generating activities and guaranteeing access to healthcare.
In Luxembourg: responsiveness and creativity to keep the link with partners and consumers
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions have also multiplied in Luxembourg: how will the supply chains work? Will Fairtrade partners maintain their commitment? What were the consumer choices going to be?
Like everywhere, Fairtrade Letzebuerg had to be reactive and creative: the team showed responsiveness and creativity to adapt as quickly as possible to the situation.
From the end of March 2020, it reoriented some of the actions and campaigns planned for 2020. The team developed a whole "Fairtrade Doheem" programme in order to stay in contact as closely as possible with the consumer and his various partners. The pandemic has changed the way we work in education with young people as well.
Only 65 face-to-face activities (149 in 2019) could be carried out in classrooms. In response to the limitations caused by the health crisis, a whole range of online material has also been developed.
Games for young and old as well as activities to be carried out at home such as an "escape game" have been developed. Two "Special COVID-19" actions were put in place, including fundraising via a crowdfunding platform for two partners, in Nicaragua and the Ivory Coast. Finally, throughout the year, the link with the general public was also maintained thanks to an offer of thematic webinars and also thanks to a novelty for Luxembourg which was a great success: the launch of "Fairtrade TV" with a live streaming Fairtrade chocolate tasting. For all of these digital activities offered to the general public, a moment of sharing with partners from the South has been created. Finally, regular communication via its website was set up with its various audiences, detailing the situation of producers and workers in the South in the face of the epidemic and highlighting the tremendous work of Fairtrade organisations to fight against the epidemic.
In addition, its partners helped relay its message and set up awareness-raising actions as far as possible, for example in some Fairtrade Gemeng municipalities and even in some Fairtrade School secondary schools. Trading partners continued to promote Fairtrade products even more at the end of the year when increased demand for fair trade and local products was felt. The NGO Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg welcomed the commitment of these partners and thanked them for the support provided throughout the year.
Luxembourg remains on course despite certain concerns
The Fairtrade products market was partly spared by the crisis, with a growth in turnover generated by the sales of all Fairtrade products of the various partners of the NGO, which amounts to €24.38 million, an increase of 11.58% compared to 2019. Consumers in Luxembourg spent an average of €39 for products bearing the Fairtrade label. This places Luxembourg among the best consumers of Fairtrade products in the world, namely in 6th position behind the top three Switzerland (€99), Ireland (€79) and Sweden (€46). At the end of 2020, the Fairtrade market had a total of 2,919 Fairtrade products registered on the market in Luxembourg, representing a growth of 9.50% with 253 new Fairtrade certified products. These products can be found in more than 400 points-of-sale; from the small local grocery store to the large supermarket, passing through pioneer outlets, namely the Boutiques du Monde. More and more products are now for sale directly on partner websites and also on Luxembourg e-commerce platforms. This positive trend in favour of fair trade demonstrates both the growing consumer demand for more ethical products and the growing commitment of Luxembourg partners, who are increasing the availability and accessibility of Fairtrade products on their shelves.
