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6 Gender and Fair Trade in Cameroon Gérard Tchouassi Introduction Trade is indispensable for the cohesion of any society since it involves the exchange of goods and services between natural persons and corporate bodies. However today, the producer and the consumer are not well informed of the manner in which international trade is conducted: the producer does not know the destination of his product and the consumer does not know the true origin of the product he consumes. Powerful intermediaries such as trademark owners, big industrial corporations, financial bodies as well as large-scale distributors and buyers impose their own rules, methods of production, prices and even their own choice of products on producers and consumers alike. A new and socially responsible international trade model is steadily becoming popular and is generating optimistic debate among community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, local communities and even international organizations. Fair trade, an alternative to the current trade model, places the wellbeing of producers in the South, rather than the profits of intermediaries, at the centre of international trading transactions (Tadros and Malo 2002). Trade creates relations among people, enterprises, multinational corporations, bodies and institutions; consequently, it has become a means to exercise power and earn profit through short-term speculation. This form of unfair trade promotes a ‘dominant/dominated’ type of relationship. It is not trade as such that is a problem; rather it is its use as a tool for economic domination. In this type of trade, profits are transferred downstream. Producers’ profit margins are reduced under pressure from industrialists and distributors, a situation that impoverishes producers and excludes them from all economic benefits, disrupts the organization of their work and prevents them from satisfying their basic Global Exchanges and Gender Perspectives in Africa 116 needs and those of their families. This type of trade is responsible for the worsening of the terms of trade. While the prices of raw materials are dropping steadily on the world market, the prices of finished products that the producers of these raw materials import from industrialized countries are increasing daily. Under this system, producers process and manufacture products under inhuman conditions that are similar to slavery. This often has grave consequences for the economic, social and cultural environment. This can easily be observed in local, regional and international trade. Consequently, the aim of the social and mutual entrepreneurship1 of women, through fair trade for sustainable development, is to enable producers and consumers to sustainably preserve their dignity and autonomy, improve their skills and better organise their activities. Even though globalization (Touna 1998) is generating a lot of debate, small producers2 and craftsmen in the South are still subject to intense pressure from harsh trade rules. The prices of raw materials from which workers and producers in the South earn a living are dropping steadily each year on the international market. Markets for food products are very unstable (sharp price fluctuations) and oligopolistic (four multinational companies control 90 per cent of the coffee market). For example, the price of coffee, which stood at •1.69 in March 1998, dropped to •0.55 euros in October 2001. The pressure exerted by intermediaries (multinationals, large-scale buyers, major industrial groups, large-scale distributors, etc.) on producers is increasing: prices as well as production, working and purchasing conditions are imposed on them. This pressure is even worse on small producers who do not have direct access to the world market. Under such conditions, an isolated small farmer or craftsman in the South cannot sustainably earn a decent living from his work. Worse, he is routinely obliged to work under conditions that are close to slavery, to force his children to work along with him and to forsake his social, economic and cultural environment. To put an end to all these pressures, ‘anti-globalization’ and ‘other world’ movements have come together and formed associations as well as social and mutual solidarity undertakings to defend producers and consumers, and to promote fair trade and ethics so as to ensure sustainable development. Sustainable processes (the production of goods and services) and institutions (organizations, associations, communities, etc.) require that certain criteria such as fairness, ethics and gender equality be respected. These processes and institutions must not deplete resources that would eventually be needed by future generations. Capacity building should constantly be provided for the people in these institutions (education, technical training, etc.). Responsibilities and benefits must be shared equitably between men and women in families, communities and associations, etc...

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