Title:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND FAIR TRADE

Authors:
Dr. Hany M. Elshamy

Abstract:
Fair trade is an alternative trading model that combines trade with empowerment and sustainable development. 2013 was the year of impressive growth for fair trade. Shoppers spent $.5 billion on Fair trade products, a 15 percent increase on 2012 figures. As Olivier (2014) argued that fair trade products are sold in 120 countries and serve over 1.3 million farmers and workers in 70 countries. The main objective of this paper is to study how fair trade supports sustainable development. A theoretical discussion that considers the concepts of sustainable development and fair trade is presented. This paper found that fair trade plays an important role in supporting sustainable development. Moreover, fair trade products can be used as a vehicle to support sustainable production and it acknowledges that this cannot be done without sustainable consumption.