Pricing fair trade products to include unpaid labour and empower women – the example of Nicaraguan sesame and coffee cooperatives

Catherine Hoskyns; Nicholas Hoskyns; Felicity Butler

Authors

Catherine Hoskyns Coventry University, Professor Emerita
Nicholas Hoskyns Managing Director of Etico, The Ethical Trading Company Ltd.
Felicity Butler Royal Holloway. University of London

Keywords:

Women, Unpaid Work, Cooperatives, Coffee, Sesame Oil, Empowerment, Fair Trade, ETICO, Body Shop International, Mujeres, trabajo no remunerado, cooperativas, café, aceite de sésamo, comercio justo

Abstract

The paper discusses an initiative taking place in two cooperatives in Nicaragua. This involves the incorporation of a component for women’s unpaid work into the cost structures of Fair Trade contracts for coffee and sesame. The argument is that the unpaid work which is done mainly by women in the household and community represents an important input into production and one which should be valued and remunerated. Its recognition can both empower women and provide a fresh demonstration of the power of the cooperatives and Fair Trade in innovating so as to improve the conditions of disadvantaged people in their supply chains.

The funding which has now been in place for two years has led to a number of very different projects for women. The involvement has spread not only to women doing unpaid work but also to women in low paid and marginalised jobs within the cooperatives. In particular, this raises the question of to whom the money allocated under this scheme should be paid, and whether it should primarily be used for collective or individual projects. This is an innovative development with the power fundamentally to change gender relations and empower women. It is significant that it is being pioneered in a poor country in the South rather than in the rich North.

Este artículo analiza una iniciativa que tiene lugar en dos cooperativas de Nicaragua. Se incorpora al estudio el componente del trabajo no remunerado de las mujeres en el coste de las estructuras del comercio justo con contratos para el café y el sésamo. El argumento que se esgrime es que el trabajo no remunerado realizado principalmente por mujeres en el ámbito doméstico y de la comunidad representa un aporte importante a la producción, que se debe valorar y remunerar. Su reconocimiento puede investir de poder a las mujeres y demostrar el poder de las cooperativas y el comercio justo para innovar y mejorar las condiciones de personas desfavorecidas en las cadenas de producción y distribución.

La financiación que se ha desarrollado durante dos años ha dado lugar a diversos proyectos orientados a las mujeres. La participación se ha extendido no sólo a las mujeres que realizan trabajo no remunerado, sino también a las mujeres con empleos mal pagados y marginales dentro de las cooperativas. En particular, se cuestiona a quién se debe pagar el dinero generado bajo este esquema, y si debiera utilizar principalmente para desarrollar proyectos individuales o colectivos. Este es un desarrollo innovador que pretende modificar a fondo las relaciones de género y el poder de las mujeres. Es significativo que se está llevando a cabo por vez primera en un país pobre del sur y no en uno rico del norte.

DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2034322

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Author Biographies

Catherine Hoskyns, Coventry University, Professor Emerita

Catherine Hoskyns is Professor Emerita in European Studies and Gender Politics at Coventry University, UK. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR) in the University of Warwick. She is the author of Integrating Gender – Women, Law and Politics in the European Union (Verso, 1996) and is currently researching the gender aspects of trade policy.

Nicholas Hoskyns, Managing Director of Etico, The Ethical Trading Company Ltd.

Nicholas Hoskyns is a British-born campaigner who has been living and working in Nicaragua for the past two decades. He has been involved in founding and developing small farmer cooperatives and associations who were the initial innovators of Fair Trade. More recently he has been working with ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas). He is Director of the Social Business Network (SBN) and the Managing Director of Etico, The Ethical Trading Company Ltd.

Felicity Butler, Royal Holloway. University of London

Felicity Butler is currently a postgraduate student at Royal Holloway University researching the unpaid work of women in supply chains. Her studies are funded by the ESRC and the Body Shop. She has extensive experience in Fair trade and Latin America, and she has strong ties with Nicaragua and continues to support ETICO in its work with gender.