“For cooperative workers, Fairtrade standards seem to be a tool that is effective in increasing wages above the national minimum wage, improving job security and reducing poverty. Such effects are not observed for farm workers. Fairtrade is currently perceived as a suitable development tool to benefit smallholder farmers and rural communities more broadly. Our findings challenge the notion that Fairtrade benefits everyone participating in certified value chains, including the poorest participants. Our sample of farm workers includes landless migrants with low human, social and political capital.”

In short, the study concluded that, while fair trade benefits those closest to the farmer cooperatives, those benefits do not trickle down to the most marginalized workers in the system. The study goes on to conclude that Fairtrade and farmer cooperatives need to do better at ensuring that benefits are more equally shared by participants in fair trade value chains. “Failing to do so may potentially contribute to rising local inequality,” cautions the study authors.

That conclusion that Fairtrade, the certifier, can do better at worker protections on small-scale farms is warranted, and one that they have to some extent addressed in the recent updates to their standards. However, the conclusions of Eva-Marie Meemken and the other study authors also miss the mark. Better rules are not going to solve this problem.