FTF-I Fair Trade Summit in India: Promoting Fair Trade and Sustainable Consumption at Home

Many of us know that there are many organizations in the US which support fairly traded items from around the world. We, Awaz, sell items made by women's cooperatives in Northern India. Equal Exchange sources coffee and chocolate from countries including, but not limited to, Guatamala, The Dominican Republic, and Peru. These are efforts from other organziations that seek to gather groups together, by giving them the skills they need to succeed. However, there is more to the story.

There are efforts from within countries that are trying to build Fair Trade networks in their local areas. One such effort is the Fair Trade Forum - India (FTF-I).

FTF-I is the national network for Fair Trade in India. Through 75 member partners, FTF-I is reaching out to more than 100,000 grassroots level producers including artisans & farmers in India. FTF-I, as the Indian national network, is working in close coordination with WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization). FTF-I is also working as the country office of WFTO-Asia.

Last July, FTF - I formed a Summit on Sustainable Consumption. As the title suggests, FTF - I wanted to create a dialogue around promoting sustainable consumption within India--to create an environment in which every Indian is aware of the issues and solutions. Previously, FTF - I, in partnership with HIVOS, IRFT & Shop for Change launched "Pro Sustain" -- a project to promote Fair Trade & Sustainable Consumption in India. This particular summit was created with the idea of building alliances between organizations to promote fair trade and make sustainability practices common.

"There is a need for the industry, government, civil society, academia, [and] artisans to work together towards sustainable development and to promote sustainable production and consumption" --Parul Soni: Executive Director and Practice Leader, Development Advisory Services at Ernst & Young

The summit went well, and concluded with a networking discussion between local entrepreneurs, FTF - I, and their member organziations. There is still work to be done, however; these groups will still be promoting fair trade and sustainable consumption within their own country until they see it become a nation-wide reality.

It is important to realize that not only are changes happening in the US, but are also happening within the under-developed nations our programs support. Passionate people within India are working to improve their state in life, and by doing so are helping improve the area they live in--both socio-economically and environmentally.


UPDATE: Fair Trade Fortnight! From 8 to 22 October Fair Trade Forum India has organized actions to promote Fair Trade and sustainable living. Events include awareness and education campaigns, sale of fair trade products, and panel discussions. You can read more about it here, and stay updated on FTF- I's facebook page.