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Fairtrade Facts and Fancies: What Kenyan Fairtrade Tea Tells us About Business’ Role as Development Agent

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Abstract

Various promising claims have been made that business can help alleviate poverty, and can do so in ways that add value to the bottom line. This article begins by highlighting that the evidence for such claims is not especially strong, particularly if business is thought of as a development agent, i.e. an organization that consciously and accountably contributes towards pro-poor outcomes. It goes on to ask whether, if we did know more about either the business case or the poverty alleviation case, would this give cause for greater optimism that business could make a significant contribution to development. By exploring the experiences of producers of Fairtrade tea in Kenya, we reveal the complex nature of what constitutes a beneficial outcome for the poor and marginalized, and the gap that can exist between ethical intentions and the experience of their intended beneficiaries. The lessons of these experiences are relevant for Fairtrade and any commercial initiative that seeks to achieve outcomes beneficial and recognizable to the poor, and raise questions about the integration of social and instrumental outcomes that a future generation of ethical entrepreneurship will need to address.

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Abbreviations

ATO:

alternative trade organization

DFID:

British Department for International Development

ETP:

Ethical Tea Partnership

FLO:

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International

FOB:

free on board

IFAT:

International Federation for Alternative Trade

IFOAM:

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

ILO:

International Labour Organization

KTDA:

Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd

NGO:

non-government organization

RA:

Rainforest Alliance

SAI:

Social Accountability International

SPC:

Social Premium Committee

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.

    Michael E. Blowfield

  2. Said Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K.

    Catherine Dolan

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  1. Michael E. Blowfield
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  2. Catherine Dolan
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Correspondence to Michael E. Blowfield.

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Blowfield, M.E., Dolan, C. Fairtrade Facts and Fancies: What Kenyan Fairtrade Tea Tells us About Business’ Role as Development Agent. J Bus Ethics 93 (Suppl 2), 143–162 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0558-2

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