The effects of fair trade on a cooperative of small coffee farmers in Poço Fundo in the state of Minas Gerais (COOPFAM)

Abstract

Fair trade is a commercial practice that aims to help small farmers in underdeveloped countries through mechanisms that can modify the supply chain. This paper, through exploratory, quantitative and transversal research, tries to investigate this structuring effect of fair trade on the productive nodule of the chain, examining the cohesion caused by this intervention on a small Cooperative of Coffee Family Farmers (organic and conventional SAT-no agro toxic substances used in production) in Poço Fundo in the state of Minas Gerais. The social network and supply chain perspectives, suported by Granovetter’s embeddeness theory, were used to analyze the information surveyed. Although a high degree of cohesion was observed, there were also some hints of potential conflicts between the new and the previous fair trade beneficiaries. The pioneers who, having been members of the local Cooperative for a longer period of time and helped to establish fair trade in Poço Fundo, and who produce organic coffee have a greater commitment to fair trade . This is a consequence of their greater emotional and economic investment. In the end, the Cooperative’s success will depend on a greater commitment among the new producers and the producers of SAT coffee.