Fair Trade Fortnight

Media reports and displays in shops remind me that Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual campaign to celebrate and promote fair and ethical trading values is fast-approaching. It prompts me to think about the fair trade aspect of Project Mala.

During my initial look at the Project Mala website I noticed that the project’s patrons include Sir Mark Tully KBE. I know he has written several books about India, was BBC’s India correspondent for 22 years and is now a freelance journalist and broadcaster based in New Delhi. I have heard him referred to as “the voice of India”. So when I notice his name I am interested to read what he has to say.

I came across an article where Sir Mark looks at what a buyer gets when they buy products that bear a fair trade label. Perhaps potential consumers like me think that purchasing a product with some sort of fair trade label means the item has been produced without treating the producers unfairly. But Sir Mark Tully points out that “fair trade organisations are only as good as their understanding of the situation where their products are made and their ability to keep an eye on what goes on there.” He goes onto explain that the Indian carpet industry is particularly difficult to monitor yet an organisation called Rugmark Foundation India says it has a system with a certification trademark which assures importers and buyers that carpets with this label have been manufactured / exported by a company which has committed itself to work without illegal child labour and which is subject to an effective surveillance mechanism. Sir Mark’s experience is that looms for carpet weaving are mostly situated in homes in remote villages making thorough inspection unrealistic.
As Project Mala works with children in the carpet weaving belt of India I am curious to find out more. I discover that Project Mala is not about stopping children from working. It is about ensuring the children have an opportunity to receive an education. The two are not mutually exclusive. And just because it may not be the norm in England for children to make a financial contribution to their family income, it is important to realise and respect what works for another culture. Hence the products available to buy from Mala Carpets – Mala Handicrafts Ltd, a subsidiary of the registered charity Project Mala do not display one of the fair trade labels which people may be familiar with but customers can be assured that any profit Mala Handicrafts makes, goes to Project Mala to fund their schools programme.