Programme 2018-2021 Development Cooperation
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DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMME 2018-2021 1 PHOTO: DANIELLE VILLASANA SUMMARY The Fairtrade system is a multi-stakeholder, non-profit movement focusing on the empowerment of small farmers and workers in developing countries through fair and sustainable trade. Fairtrade Finland works to directly connect producers and consumers, to promote fairer trading conditions and to advance sustainable development. Farmers and workers at the bottom of supply chains don’t generally get a fair share of the benefits of trade. Fairtrade enables consumers to address this injustice. Standards and certifications are vital tools to enable empowerment and develop- ment, but are not in themselves a sufficient tool to tackle the persistent challenges the world is facing. Sustained, targeted and supplementary initiatives are needed to support produc- ers and workers to tackle deeply embedded and difficult issues like climate change, displace- ment of people fleeing conflict and disaster, exploitative work, child and forced labour, mod- ern-day slavery, human trafficking, exclusion of immigrants or people with disabilities, and gender equality. With direct links to 75 producing countries in the South, an extensive number of sup- pliers and retailers in the North and civil societies at the both ends of the supply chain, Fairtrade Finland is well positioned to play a larger role in advancing inclusive and sustainable development for the most vulnerable populations. In the spirit of the SDGs’ Agenda 2030 of leaving no-one behind, Fairtrade Finland has developed together with its partners a new development cooperation programme covering the years 2018– 2021. The programme builds on what was accomplished in the first Fairtrade-MFA programme (2014–2017) and the new approaches piloted during the second half of the implementation. The programme expands to new countries, covers others products in addition to coffee which was the focus of the first programme, and also widens the focus on the more vulnerable groups: di- verse workers, children and youth, people with disabilities, and women. The development goal of the programme is to ensure the rights of the producers and workers to a dignified life. This will be achieved through enabling the empowerment of producer and worker organizations, small farmers and agricultural workers and facilitating supportive environments for local civil socie- ties to enable rural people to overcome obstacles to well-being by securing economically, socially and environmentally sustainable livelihoods. The programme also promotes three cross-cutting themes based on the values of the Fairtrade movement: environmental sustainability, support for vulnerable people and gender equality. During the programme period, Fairtrade Finland will pur- sue this goal through three closely interlinked and mutually supporting strategic objectives: 2 REALIZING THE RIGHT TO A SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD FOR PRODUCER HOUSEHOLDS. The programme is strengthening the organizations of smallholders and enabling them to develop their sustainable production practices, build stronger organizations and engage directly with their communities, governments at all levels, and traders. Small producer groups will be provided with opportunities to become beacons of best practice, agents of positive and sustainable change for their communities showing how smallholders can enable and advance trade that benefits all people and the planet. REALIZING THE RIGHT TO A SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD FOR WORKER HOUSEHOLDS. Empowering workers, both on plantations and seasonal workers on small farms, is crucial to ensure sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction for all. Recognizing the decent work agen- da and the challenges many workers face, the programme will support negotiations towards a living wage and the organization of workers so that they and their representatives can negoti- ate improved terms. The programme will also train, build capacity and support small producer organizations to establish and lead community-based, self-governing, inclusive monitoring and response systems for child and forced labour, contributing to the due diligence and/or vigilance requirements of the consumer countries. ADVANCING FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE TRADING. Citizen-consumers’ awareness and understanding of sustainable development is crucial in ena- bling them to make informed decisions with their purchasing power and encourage companies, public sectors and local governments to honour their obligations and responsibilities in terms of achieving the goals of the SDGs, including eliminating human rights violations. HONDURAS PHOTO: SEAN HAWKEY 3 Advocacy and development communications are encouraging Finnish people and companies to actively take part in solving the same problems that the programme’s work in the South addresses. In addition, the programme includes a comprehensive programme communica- tion component. The aim of the programme communications is to raise awareness about the importance, results and impact of the programme and to have a positive effect on the attitudes and behaviour of Finnish citizen-consumers. Targeting supply chains on three continents, the programme provides a unique opportunity for Fairtrade Finland and its more than 30 member organizations to communicate with the wider populations segments in Finland who ordi- narily are not engaged in or informed about development cooperation, and also to stake out a key role for consumers in Finland in ensuring a better and fairer world for all. The programme regions are Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. The programme fo- cuses on the least developed and lower middle income countries. The main programme countries are the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi and South Africa. Two of these countries – the Domi nican Republic and South Africa – are upper middle income countries, which are included because they host target groups that are facing particular vulnerabilities. In South Africa empowering extremely vulnerable agricultural workers, many of whom are immigrants from Zimbabwe. In the Dominican Republic, we aim to improve the situation of Haitian, mainly undocumented, agricultural workers. The programme’s partner organizations in the South are local networks representing producers and agricultur- al workers. The programme has total of 310,000 direct beneficiaries of which 45 per cent are women. The effectiveness of Fairtrade Finland’s development cooperation is based on aresults- oriented approach, local ownership, harmonization, strong partnerships, transparency, a rights-based approach and efficiency. The programme’s sustainability is embedded in Fairtrade standards, reliable partner organizations, participatory planning, robust pro- gramme-level monitoring system, minimal aid dependency, sustainable exit strategies, rigorous risk management and anti-corruption policy. Fairtrade’s model of producer and worker em- powerment and participatory decision-making processes as well as wide-ranging and in-depth expertise in linking the whole value chain enables us to ensure the sustainability of the pro- gramme’s results and impact. The programme draws substantial additional co-financing fromcontributions by private com- panies and other Fairtrade associations in Europe as well as license fees from Fairtrade sales in Finland. The programme’s co-financing is budgeted to be at least 42 per cent, probably well over 50 per cent, and administrational costs will be kept low at around 5 to 6 per cent of total costs. The programme is designed and implemented in line with the Development Policy of Finland, the Sustainable Development Goals, and strategic development plan of the targeted project coun- tries, as well as the objectives concerning aid efficiency. Through working with businesses and civil society on the one hand and producers and workers on the other, Fairtrade Finland’s programme links whole value chains in a unique way that can best empower small producers and workers to achieve transformative change in their lives. 4 DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMME, FAIRTRADE FINLAND, 2018-2021 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 2 Acronyms and abbreviations ........................................................................................ 7 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 10 1.1. Fairtrade .................................................................................................. 13 1.1.1. The Fairtrade movement...................................................................... 19 1.1.2. Fairtrade’s Theory of Change ............................................................... 24 1.2. Programme planning process ......................................................................... 26 1.3. Rationale: problems & challenges ................................................................... 33 1.3.1. Smallholders and livelihoods ................................................................ 36 1.3.2. Workers and livelihoods ....................................................................... 37 1.3.3. Trading and Global Supply Chains ....................................................... 42 2. PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES ................................................................................. 44 2.1. Right to a dignified life ...................................................................................