As the global demand for products and immense competition continues to increase in our current business landscape, all modern businesses have started to prioritize moral and ethical solution in course of their regular business operations. Systematic and established ethical standards can help business significantly increase credibility and reliability amongst existing and potential customers by establishing trust and confidence.
Recent studies have shown that 73% of West Europe customers of agricultural products are willing to pay higher prices for produce from companies and firms that operate with transparency and standard. Although various unethical actions in the name of Trade Fair may be able to help business to increase return in the short term, they can often result in loss of viability in the long run due to forfeiture of trust and credibility. Therefore, businesses tend to comprehend and avoid various immoral and unethical dilemmas that may potentially affect organizational productivity.
The idea of Fair Trade has now evolved as an ethical platform to change the way trade and investment works through better price reward and improvement of working condition. It is a trading partnership, based on discourse, transparency and respect that seek greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions, safe environment and securing the rights of marginalized producers, company workers and project area community.
Today Fair Trade International, a product-oriented multi stakeholder group, has become a product labeling and certifying organizations in most developed and developing countries. This organization aimed at promoting the lives of company workers and producers as well as local community through establishing ethical standard. Those products that labelled by Fair Trade International as "Fair Trade Products" used to receive additional payment or a fair trade premium price payment, which is more than 10% of the prevailing market selling price through Bank to their independent association of producing and exporting companies.
Fair trade certification means workers who produce certified tradable commodity shall have improved working conditions, better pay, and protection of their basic rights, such as fixed employment and a safe working environment, including the safe use of chemicals and a ban on dangerous pesticides by receiving fair trade premium or reward in the market. The fair trade premium is enabling flowers' workers to improve their lives and invest in social, education and infrastructure projects such as scholarships, school buildings and healthcare facilities.
In Latin America and African countries, the floriculture industry is an important source of hundreds of thousands of jobs yet most flower workers work for long hours, are poorly paid (with either no or a wholly inadequate minimum wages), and women do not even receive their basic rights.
The vast majority of flower sold in European consumer markets are imported around 80% of all roses sold in Europe, for example. In European super market and retail channel, the majority of these come from East Africa. In these countries, many workers do not even receive their basic rights, in Ethiopia for example, there is no legal minimum wage; in Uganda, the minimum wage set by the government is half of the poverty line set by the World Bank. Many workers are not able to enjoy labour union and have to work under unprotected working conditions - handling with pesticides without protective equipment, working for long periods and not receiving sick pay or maternity leave.
In Ethiopia, fair trade has come a long way in the last 12 years. The Fair Trade Revolution celebrates the movements achievement and takes up the challenge of improving more lives through fair dealing with flower producers.
In Ethiopia, Seven Rose and ornamental cutting producing and exporting companies, who operate in Zeway and Koka Floriculture cluster are registered by Fair Trade Organization since 2012. (Hurberg Rose Plc, Zeway Rose PLC, AQ rose PLC, Yasin Largesse Johansson PLC, Dumen Orange PLC and Maranque Plants PLC and Sher Ethiopia PLC). Their products are certified as fair trade products. In these companies, workers have got an opportunity to receive and administer additional fund which is derived from fair trade product buyers.
For the last 12 years, with support of Fair Trade Premium, different projects have been implemented in Zeway Koka cluster. The building of school from Kindergarten to high school which serve more than 12,000 students (the school serve also food for children between age of 4-6); the building of Hospitals and health clinic with capacity of 140 bed for patients with all medical facilities (major and minor theatres, dental clinic, gynecology, physiotherapy, x-rays, CT Scan, radiology, maternity, maternal child health, HIV prevention services etc) use of biological crop protection agents to save the environment, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Construction of wetland systems to treat liquid waste and recycled in the farm construction of sport field and football stadium are among some of the projects which greatly benefit company employee, local community and project surrounding population.
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Currently, an independent non-profit umbrella organization like Fair Trade Africa, Fair trade Australia and New Zealand are keen to leverage buyer interest in Europe and Australia to source from Ethiopia, to contribute to keeping farm workers employed to support themselves and their families and the fair trade Premium flowing to worker groups. The situation on the ground is exacerbated at present by sweeping price shock response to auction market and energy crisis in Europe.
To date, the concern of sustainable development has ignited a desire to make ethical revolution on existing trade partnership and need to focus on improvement of working condition. Flower Companies need to see themselves as part of the community and understand how their business backward and forward linkages impact the community that rely on them and global market throughout the supply chain.
Mekonnen Solomon is a Horticulture Export Coordinator
