Problem addressed

Unfair trade is a major driver of poverty and an obstacle to sustainable development. Many farmers around the developing world do not receive a fair wage for what they produce and are denied labour, economic, social and political rights such as a living wage, collective bargaining and health and safety standards. The fair trade movement aims to achieve greater equity in international trade through advocating for the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as improved social and environmental standards. Whilst such ethical choices are available to consumers, a 2018 survey conducted by the European Commission has shown that only 10% of Maltese people make such ethical choices when shopping for groceries. This is far below the European average of 21%.

Innovative solution

Cooperative Kummerċ Ġust (KKĠ) is a non-profit cooperative and fair trade organisation established in Malta in 1996, that has a two-fold aim: to promote sustainable fair trade, whilst raising awareness of the problem of poverty in the global south and ways to help alleviate it. It does so through fair trade education and cooperation with producers from the global south.

KKĠ actively engages and supports schools, youth and social groups to run their own educational events on fair trade and sustainable living. Its range of educational materials are publicly available and include manuals, best practice booklets, educational video games, lesson plans and short films. It also works closely with the local cooperative Outlook Coop, organising non-formal educational activities on sustainability.

KKĠ brings the topic of sustainability to the wider public through cultural events, cooperating with musicians and artists to increase the reach of its activities and raise public awareness of fair trade. Its events include poetry readings and public forums as well as cultural events such as WorldFest, an annual event that takes place in Valletta to celebrate International World Fairtrade Day, and Taste the World, a weekly international culinary event in the city of Saint Julian.

KKĠ also brings producers from developing countries to Malta directly. In this way, producers can meet with trade unions and policymakers and present their work and products to schools and community groups. KKĠ also provides Maltese retailers and consumers with information on how they can deal with producers from the global south directly.

KKĠ is instrumental in supporting capacity building of other local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Through its membership of the Malta Forum for Social Justice and Development and Malta’s National Platform of Development NGOs (NGDO Platform), KKĠ shares its expertise, empowering non-profit actors that are working on sustainability.

KKĠ has 200 paying members, as well as volunteers. In line with KKĠ’s cooperative status, members have the chance to vote during meetings, stand for committee elections and attend national or international meetings.

Key results and benefits

Through its large-scale events that attract up to 2 000 people, it reaches a wide audience of consumers in Malta with the aim of influencing behaviours and attitudes towards sustainable living in the population. Its work in Malta also empowers local NGOs working on sustainability, thus multiplying advocacy and sustainability communication efforts in the country.

Farmers and producers in the global south also benefit from the awareness-raising initiatives on ethical consumerism that are implemented by the cooperative.

KKĠ also has a social impact beyond Malta alone, thanks to its involvement in a number of pan-European projects. Shop Fair, for example, created a Europe-wide movement to encourage responsible consumption. Through the pan-European Make Fruit Fair campaign, KKĠ successfully lobbied multinational supermarkets to consider implementing social criteria on the producers of the fruit they sell, in order to support workers’ rights.

Potential for mainstreaming

KKĠ largely depends on donations from the public along with EuropeAid funding. EU involvement and funding has enabled the organisation to build international partnerships with fair trade organisations from other EU Member States, and thus collaborate with them, gathering and sharing best practices. This would support the potential for transferring the initiative to another context. KKĠ also uses a wide range of resources and publications to disseminate best practices and ensure that they reach a wide audience. Key conditions for a successful transfer to another context would be strong partnerships with the local community – schools, NGOs, cultural centres, for example – as this is one of the key ways in which KKĠ ensures the wide reach of its activities.