The innovation of the fair trade movement to foster sustainability

Much of the awareness in society towards sustainable development objectives has been fostered by United Nations (UN) programmes, non-governmental organisations and social movements they have inspired. Within the stream of social change occurred after the second world war, fair trade initiative innovated as a social movement by offering an international trade model to make difference in producers’ lives. Mainstream fair trade organisations carried social responsibility values of addressing targets such as poverty alleviation; reducing market inequalities North-South; protecting environment; enabling fair work conditions; promoting responsible consumption and production; ensuring food security. Given these objectives, fair trade movement can be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by UN in 2015; and with the triple bottom line of sustainability. Those synergies can be demonstrated across fair trade organisations’ social responsibility and sustainability reports. Materials and methods of this paper included a review of the corporate social responsibility and sustainability reports of the mainstream fair trade organisations from 2000 to date. Findings show a consistency among terms common to the fair trade reported aims and the SDGs. A comparative analysis indicates the spectrum of sustainability topics progressively addressed by the fair trade movement since at least 2000. This review may contribute to guide government policies and socially focused businesses to foster sustainability goals through innovations within food systems, to attain a sustainable agriculture and rural development.