Fair Trade started at least 50 years ago with community and church organizations in Europe and North America buying products from other community organizations in the developing world.  

Today, Fair Trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing countries producers and promoting sustainability. Fair Trade history is strongly linked to working with small producers and farmers. Fair Trade’s strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to one of security and economic self-sufficiency. Its emphasis is on empowerment and development of small producers, farmers and of workers.

Fair Trade work with small producers and farmers aims to encourage them to work together and to gain the knowledge and power to improve their own situation. It works with small producer associations, co-operatives and other such organizations as they strive for fair and responsible trading relationships. Fair trade movement also advocates the payment of fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods.  It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries.