Carola Reintjes, President of the Spanish Fair Trade movement IDEAS and IFAT, the International Fair Trade Network said that members of the business community that had not yet engaged in fair trade should adapt the practices: "Let business become fair and create benefits to the people - to the workers and small farmers."

Fair Trade organisations fight against poverty and work for fairer world trading rules. Since inception there has been a growing awareness of the fair trade initiative with the programme growing at a rate of 20 percent annually. The fair trade initiative brings in business communities that uphold fair labour practices and human rights.

Window Dressing

Reintjes said the business community should now go beyond piecemeal Corporate Social Responsibility" programmes and undertake strategies that were of help to the poor.

"They should move from the window dressing activities that they are doing and ensure that they have strategies in place to ensure that trade is fair," she said.

Reintjes said governments needed to put in place institutional frameworks that ensured fair trade was being practiced in all sectors - whether local or international.

"It is now easier than in the past to prosecute a dictator than a multinational that’s involved in malpractices," said Reintjes. Compete Favourably

Simon Mwangi, a curio seller from Nairobi, Kenya, said that the fair trade initiative had made an impact on his business as he was now able to sell on the international market.

"Since the international market adopted the fair trade business in this area, we are now able to sell and at least compete favourably on the world stage despite the other constraints in the business," he said.

The demand for fair trade continues.

A participant speaking at a session on Fair Trade at the WSF on Wednesday said the fair trade initiative areas of operation needed to be broadened: "The initiative has managed to rope in a number of areas now we need to expand it to cover other areas where they are injustices and unfair business."