Unfair trade is at the root of poverty

[Judi Lynn]

10 April 2022 | Julia Barnes, Marketing Assistant

Forced to leave home

Olga Alvarado was just 18 years old when she immigrated to the US to work and save money to buy her own land for coffee farming back in Honduras. At the time, coffee prices in Honduras were very low and turned little profit for farmers, making it nearly impossible for Olga to stay in her home country and still earn a living wage to support her family as a single mother.

For eight years, Olga worked at a McDonalds in Devon, New Jersey and saved as much money as possible. In 2015, Olga’s hard work paid off. She bought six acres of farmland, returned home to Honduras, and joined the COAQUIL Coffee Collaborative, where Olga is now paid a sustainable price for her coffee. Her story is far from uncommon. Once she joined the COAQUIL co-op, she learned that about half of her fellow members had also previously immigrated to the US to earn more money.

While Olga’s story is inspirational, we believe that people shouldn’t have to leave their homes simply to earn a decent income. For people like Olga and the millions of other smallholder farmers across the world, they did not have a choice. Poverty is what forces folks to leave their homes in search of a better life. And ultimately, unfair trade practices are a root cause of poverty.

More:
https://www.fairtradeamerica.org/news-insights/unfair-trade-is-at-the-root-of-poverty/

[Midnight Writer]

1. If we want to decrease immigration from Latin America, we should build their independent economies

instead of exploiting them.

The price would be cheaper than our militarized border protection, and everyone would be better off.