The State of Sustainable Markets 2022

First published in 2015, this report is now updated annually on the state of sustainable markets. The International Trade Centre has teamed up once again with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the International Institute for Sustainable Development to provide data about 14 major sustainability standards for bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, forestry products, oil palm, soybeans, sugarcane and tea.

The report presents market and statistical data on these sectors as well as at-a-glance tables on products and the following standards: 4C Services (4C), Better Cotton, Bonsucro, Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), Fairtrade International (Fairtrade), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), GLOBALG.A.P., IFOAM – Organics International (organic), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), ProTerra Foundation (ProTerra), Rainforest Alliance (Rainforest), the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and UTZ.

Data from the latest survey (2020 data) demonstrate how certified agriculture and forestry continue to grow, in line with an expanding global population and increasing demand for sustainable products. The rising share of total area and production volume covered by voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) suggests there is significant potential for further growth.

Download the report

 

 

Cocoa Barometer 2022

The 2022 Cocoa Barometer was released on December 7 by the Cocoa Barometer Consortium, 

Written by Antonie Fountain and Friedel Huetz-Adams, "the 2022 Cocoa Barometer provides an overview of the current sustainability developments in the cocoa sector and highlights critical issues that are not receiving sufficient attention at present, discussing a broad range of social, economic, and environmental issues."

The findings include the following: "Living income is a human right, and a necessary precondition for all the other challenges in the cocoa sector to be properly addressed. And though it has become an accepted goal for the cocoa sector, there is a lack of concrete and time-bound commitments towards a living income, either by individual companies, by governments, or by sector-wide initiatives. Living income must become mandatory, and therefore enshrined in the due diligence regulations being drafted presently.
(...) In all this, there is very little conversation about the industry’s business model, including about how they set the prices they pay. As a result, most farmers are still not earning a living income, and not a single stakeholder group is currently doing what they should be doing to ensure farmers achieve a living income.
(...)
For living income to become a reality for cocoa farmers, action is necessary on three separate dimensions at the same time: good agricultural practices, good governance policies, and good purchasing practices. Any corporate or government effort that does not move significantly on all three dimensions at the same time will not be an adequate response to the challenge. However, not all three dimensions have an equal status. Good Agricultural Practices are only a worthwhile strategy if cocoa is sufficiently remunerative. Only when both the responsibilities of corporations and governments are properly being met does it become fair to ask farmers to invest effort and money in improving their productivity. The burden to first move lies squarely with the companies and the governments in the cocoa sector."

The cocoa barometer is available to download in English from cocoabarometer.org. Executive summary is available in English, French and Spanish.

#cocoa, #livingincome, #sustainableliving #cocoaproduction #chocolate #cacao #chocolat #revenu #BeyondChocolate #childslavery #durabilité, #CommerceEquitable #FairTrade #ODD, #sustainability

Organic market reaches 52 billion euros and organic farmland 17 million hectares in 2020

The European organic market reached a record high in 2020. It increased by 15 percent and reached €52.0 billion, the highest growth rate in the past decade. The organic farmland continued to grow, too. The latest data are shown in the statistical yearbook "The World of Organic Agriculture 2022".

In 2020, 17.1 million hectares of farmland in Europe were organic (European Union: 14.9 million hectares). With almost 2.5 million hectares, France became the new number one country in terms of farmland under organic management, followed by Spain (2.4 million hectares), Italy (2.1 million hectares) and Germany (1.7 million hectares).

Organic farmland increases by 0.7 million hectares

Organic farmland increased by over 0.7 million hectares in the European Union, representing an increase of 5.3 percent. Growth was, however, lower than in the previous year. France reported 307’000 hectares more than in 2019, Italy had over 102’000 hectares more, and Germany had over 88’000 hectares more.

 Liechtenstein has the highest organic share of the total farmland in the world

In 2020, organic farmland in Europe constituted 3.4 percent of the total agricultural land and 9.2 percent in the European Union. In Europe (and globally), Liechtenstein had the highest organic share of all farmland (41.6 percent), followed by Austria, the country in the European Union with the highest organic share (26.5 percent). Fifteen European countries reported that at least 10 percent of their farmland is organic.

Organic producers, processors and importers: Modest growth

There were almost 420’000 organic producers in Europe and almost 350'000 in the European Union. Italy had the largest number (71’590).

There were 84’799 processors in Europe and over 78’000 in the European Union. Over 6’800 importers were counted in Europe and almost 5‘800 in the European Union. The country with the largest number of processors was Italy (nearly 23‘000), while Germany had the most importers (more than 1’900).

Retail sales reach € 52.0 billion

Retail sales in Europe were valued at € 52.0 billion (€ 44.8 billion in the European Union). The largest market was Germany (€ 14.99 billion). The European Union represents the second largest single market for organic products globally after the United States (€ 49.5 billion).

Record growth of retail sales in 2020

The European market reached a record growth rate of 14.9 percent, the highest in the last decade. Among the key markets, the highest growth was observed in Germany (22.3 percent). In 2020, the organic markets in many countries exhibited double-digit growth due to the pandemic as people stayed home and began to cook more often. Health, environment and climate change have become important issues. If this trend continues, production and processing have to keep pace. The Farm to Fork strategy of the European Union can support this development with respective measures.

European consumers spend more on organic food

In Europe, consumers spent € 63.3 on organic food per person annually (European Union: € 101.8). Per capita, consumer spending on organic food has doubled in the last decade. In 2020, Swiss and Danish consumers spent the most on organic food (€ 418 and € 384 per capita, respectively).

Denmark has the highest organic market share in the world

Globally, European countries account for the highest shares of organic food sales as a percentage of their respective food markets. Denmark has the highest organic food sales share worldwide, with 13.0 percent in 2020, followed by Austria with a share of 11.3 percent and Switzerland with 10.3 percent.

FiBL and AMI conducted the survey on organic farming in Europe. The FiBL data collection was carried out in the framework of the global survey on organic farming supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Coop Sustainability Fund, NürnbergMesse and IFOAM – Organics International.

Have a look at the Wold of Organic Agriculture 2022 report

Fair Trade Goes Local

With climate change and the current health crisis, alarm bells are starting to ring: the way we have organised the globalisation of the market with international just-in-time value chains makes us extremely vulnerable and is putting more and more pressure on ecosystems. Not to mention the social consequences, like growing inequality.

It is time then to take a different approach to our trade relations. We urgently need to re-localise some of the economic activity in vital sectors like healthcare and the food industry, in order to increase our autonomy and resilience. We need to de-specialise our areas and define a new ‘food sovereignty’ by collectively deciding how we want to produce and bring our food to market.(1) Fair trade can contribute to this.

Fair trade goes local

Fair trade is a movement that is constantly looking for cohesion, with various different dynamics at play. One of these is an important one: fair trade has long been confined to the North-South solidarity trade, but has since opened up to local trade. First in southern countries like Mexico, India, South Africa, Kenya and Ecuador. Brazil has even gone so far as to introduce legislation that heads in that direction. Then in European countries to obtain a sustainable agricultural model to strengthen social links. In Belgium, various initiatives were launched: the label ‘Prix juste producteur’, Fairbel milk and the ‘Biogarantie Belgium’ label that has adopted certain fair trade criteria. More traditional fair trade organisations like Miel Maya honey, Oxfam, Ethiquable and others have also integrated certain players and local products to give a truly universal dimension to the concept and practices of fair trade.

A variety of approaches

The ‘classic’ South-North fair trade had already shown its multiplicity, with, for example, organisations working only with marginalised producers organised in cooperatives and others allowing contract farming or certifying large plantations. The same is true of local Belgian and European fair trade. While all organisations are committed to remunerating producers fairly, and while almost all work with organised producers, there are differences in terms of the agricultural model (agro-ecological or not), the attention paid to the physical traceability of products, the size of farms, etc.

Since its creation, more than 70 years ago, fair trade has undergone constant evolution, always in search of greater relevance. Today it has reached a universal dimension, with practices adapted to different local contexts. Let's count on the fact that the international movement or the legislator will manage to maintain a certain unity of approach.  

Read more about ‘Local fair trade in Belgium and Europe’ in the study of the Trade for Development Centre (Enabel): https://www.tdc-enabel.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Local-Fair-Trade-in-Belgium-and-Europe.pdf

In French: https://usercontent.one/wp/www.tdc-enabel.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Le-commerce-equitable-belge-et-europeen.pdf?media=1639485290

TDC published a non-exhaustive list of Belgian and European initiatives that fall under the category of ‘local fair trade’. The document also presents a synoptic table of criteria used for local Fair Trade, a typology of organisations, a cross-sectional analysis of the similarities and differences in production processes, pricing etc., and provides a few points of attention like the multiplication of labels, the coexistence of ‘Southern’ and ‘Northern’ products…

#fairtrade #commerceequitable #localfood #localfairtrade #localproduce #cooperation #BelgiumLovesFairTrade, #commerceequitable, #Belgiquepaysducommerceequitable #CommerceEquitable, #transitionécologique, #fairtradeinnovates #tradefairlivefair, #FairTradeProducts #FairTradeSolidarity, #SocialEnterprise

 

Local Fair Trade in Belgium and in Europe: A Few Points to Note

Multiplication of labels and blurred image

There is no doubt about it, the emergence of local fair trade has led to the appearance of new labels such as Prix Juste Producteur in Belgium, Bio Equitable or Agri-Ethique in France, and has led certain labels such as Biogarantie to position themselves in this niche. All this in a context where ‘classic’ South-North fair trade already has several (Fairtrade, Fair for Life, Symbol of Small Producers, WFTO, etc.) and where consumers say that there are too many labels, that it is difficult to find one's way around.

The corollary of this multiplicity of labels is greater variability and a greater diversity of criteria. By becoming universal, the image of fair trade will therefore also become blurred and less legible. On the other hand, and this is not to be neglected when considering the future of fair trade, when in its communication it is linked with or sees itself as complementary to the process of buying local products, we notice a renewed interest of the press and consumers for this type of trade.

The need for legislation?   

France is the only European country to have adopted legislation describing and recognising the notion of ‘fair trade’, and to have extended it in May 2014 to North-North relations. Such legislation within the European Union would help clarifying "who really does fair trade and who doesn't?" and thus provide a framework allowing new organisations to launch themselves in a slightly more secure way in this type of trade. This would also enable consumers to distinguish between fair trade and non-fair trade products and to serve as a reference for public authorities wishing to promote them in the context of calls to the market.

 
Taking animal welfare into account?

Fair Trade milk has brought a product from the animal world into the scope of this solidarity trade, which will eventually requiree Fair Trade organisations to detail criteria relating to animal welfare. Oxfam Fair Trade already foresees in its framework for partnerships with producers in the North that: "The partner respects the rights of the animals." But what will happen when the first 'fair trade' cuts of meat are offered in supermarkets? What will then be the nature of the debate between the proponents of fair trade, vegetarianism or veganism?

The coexistence of ‘Southern’ and ‘Northern’ products

Will local Fair Trade products compete with Fair Trade products usually coming from the South? It is this risk that has until now led Fairtrade producer networks to avoid opening up the most well-known Fairtrade label to products from the North.

For products such as coffee and cocoa, the question does not arise since these products can only be grown in tropical zones. But for flowers, wine, honey or certain fruit juices? For honey, European supply is lower than demand. So as long as honey is brought in from elsewhere, it's better to make it fair. For wine and fruit juices, apart from the organoleptic characteristics and tastes linked to the region, the carbon balance and ecological footprint of products from different geographical areas should be taken into consideration. This debate is far too vast to be developed here, especially as production methods must also be taken into consideration. An organic agro-ecological product coming from the South and transported by boat (or even by cargo sailboat) could have a smaller ecological footprint than a product from Spain coming from industrial agriculture.

In concrete terms, ‘cohabitation’ does not seem to pose too many problems at the moment. Apart from replacing a Chilean apple juice with a Belgian one, Oxfam-Magasins du Monde, for example, sells 'Northern' products that complement its original range.

And let's dream a little. In the long term, the parallel development of local fair trade in the countries of the South could absorb some of the products that could no longer be marketed via large-scale exports.

Read more about ‘Local fair trade in Belgium and Europe’ in the study of the Trade for Development Centre (Enabel): https://www.tdc-enabel.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Local-Fair-Trade-in-Belgium-and-Europe.pdf

In French: https://usercontent.one/wp/www.tdc-enabel.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Le-commerce-equitable-belge-et-europeen.pdf?media=1639485290

TDC published a non-exhaustive list of Belgian and European initiatives that fall under the category of ‘local fair trade’. The document also presents a synoptic table of criteria used for local Fair Trade, a typology of organisations, a cross-sectional analysis of the similarities and differences in production processes, pricing etc., and provides a few points of attention like the multiplication of labels, the coexistence of ‘Southern’ and ‘Northern’ products…