Assessing the Impact of Fairtrade on Poverty Reduction and Economic Resilience through Rural Development

Fairtrade Germany and Fairtrade Austria commissioned Mainlevel Consulting to implement an applied research project that aims at identifying the contribution of Fairtrade on poverty reduction through rural development. The research assesses Fairtrade’s contribution across four different sustainability dimensions – economic resilience, social wellbeing, good governance and environmental integrity. The case study model compares Fairtrade certified and non-certified small-scale producer organizations of three products in three settings: cocoa in Central Ghana, bananas in Northern Peru, and coffee in Central Peru. It represents the third study within a decade (first in 2012, second in 2018) with the same Fairtrade certified producer organizations, providing rare insights into the organizations’ development and experiences over time.