Accessed 16th August
http://feministing.com/2013/08/15/what-if-the-price-of-your-fair-trade-coffee-accounted-for-the-unpaid-domestic-labor-of-women/
What if the price of your fair trade coffee accounted for the unpaid domestic labor of women?
AUGUST 15, 2013
That’s what some Nicaraguan fair
trade co-operatives are now calculating. Upside Down World describes how this development began with a
sesame oil contract with The Body Shop and has now caught on among green coffee
co-ops in the country as well.
There are three types of unpaid work
mainly done by women: work which is part of actual production although unpaid
(like sorting coffee cherries); work which contributes indirectly to production
(like washing work clothes); and domestic and other work in the home which
contributes generally to the stability of the household and the community.
The innovation of this initiative
lies in the fact that it includes pay not only for the first and second of
these, but also for the third, seeing women’s work in the home as crucial in
providing a stable environment within which cash crop production can take
place.
The starting point for this
development came in 2008, when the co-operative Juan Francisco Pas Silva needed
to renew its Community Trade (equivalent to Fair Trade) contract for sesame oil
with The Body Shop. The co-op and ETICO, an ethical
trading company that works closely with the co-op) both had strong gender
policies and were looking for ways of supporting women through this contract.
The idea of including a component for women’s unpaid work came as a flash of
inspiration. After rough calculations, a figure of 960 cordobas a year,
approximately $50 per manzana (0.7 of
a hectare) was agreed – as a recognition and recompense for the contribution to
production made by women.
The effect of this compensation has
extended far beyond the purely economic. The extra funds generated by the
price increase are funneled back to women’s empowerment efforts–such as loan
schemes and educational programs–and many women say they are more confident and
feel a greater sense of ownership in the co-operatives. “There is a general
feeling from the women, a sentiment that is often repeated, that: ‘somos
tomadas en cuenta’ (We are now appreciated, taken into account).”
It’s amazing to think what that
recognition would do it it were extended throughout the entire global economy.
