Twinning Auroville and Pondicherry as fair trade towns

On 20th November, The Hindu newspaper reported that an initiative had been launched to make Puducherry and Auroville the world’s first ‘Fair Trade Twin Towns’. But what does this mean?

The Fair Trade movement is now widespread in the West. The generally accepted definition of Fair Trade is “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers, especially in the South.”

Two of the core principles of fair trade practices are promoting environmental sustainability and providing decent working conditions for employees. In this sense, isn’t Auroville already a fair trade town?

“Of course, it is,” says Uma of Upasana. “If you were not interested in the concept of fair trading you would not bother to start a commercial unit in Auroville. But this does not necessarily qualify us to be a Fair Trade town. For this we need to be affiliated to the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), and this requires us to fulfill specific conditions, like having regular financial, social and environmental audits. Also, it is not cheap. It costs a minimum of €500 a year to be an affiliated member.”

Today, five Auroville units – Mereville, Upasana, Imagination, Aurospirul and Maroma – are officially affiliated. In fact when Dara, the manager of Imagination, affiliated his unit twenty years ago, it was one of the very first Fair Trade companies in India.”He was very much the pioneer of Fair Trade in India,” says Uma.

But if Auroville is already practicing the principles of Fair Trade, what is the advantage of being affiliated? “I want to position my unit, Upasana, as a brand both nationally and internationally,” explains Uma. “By being affiliated we are on the WFTO’s map of the world, so anybody on the planet looking to trade or work with fair trade bodies will immediately find us. If we could affiliate the township as a whole, it would give Auroville even greater visibility. It would make huge economic sense as well as emphasising our ethical credentials.”

But isn’t Fair Trade still an essentially Western concept? Are consumers in India really aware or interested in supporting Fair Trade activities?

“It’s a relatively new concept in India,” says Uma, “which is why the Fair trade businesses in India have tended so far to focus on the export market. But the upcoming generation, particularly in the big cities, is much more aware now. They are looking for something different to do with their money, they want something to be connected with something they can look up to. Over the past year, I have been presenting Upasana and Auroville all over India and I have had a very good response, both to the aesthetics of our products and to our ethical approach to business.

“In Europe, most people associate fair trade with buying healthy, ecological products. In India the fair trade focus is more on getting fair prices and on promoting social equity. Auroville is and should continue to be part of this larger movement.”

Behind the twin towns Fair Trade intuitive is Anjali Schiavina, the founder and managing director of Mandala Apparels in Pondcherry. She says she has been inspired by Bruce Crowther, considered the father of the Fair Trade Towns in the world, to help Pondicherry and Auroville earn this unique title. Also partnering in the initiative is Puducherry-based NGO PondyCAN.

The initiative was kicked off in late November by activist Pushpanath Krishnamurthy, a senior campaigner at Oxfam. He has begun a 450 kilometre walk from Pondicherry to Ooty. On his first day he walked to Auroville. “He wanted the blessing of the Matrimandir,” says Uma. “It was pouring with rain that day, but over one hundred people walked with him.” Along the way, he will create awareness of Fair Trade practices in Pondicherry and Auroville, and he will also talk about the interlinked issue of climate justice.

Fair Trade is, without doubt, a powerful tool for social development and transformation. But certain questions remain. For example, it is not clear what the twinning of Auroville and Pondicherry as fair trade towns really signifies when the vast majority of businesses in Pondicherry have probably never heard of fair trade, let alone practice it. How will it change things?

And then there is a larger question. Does the fair trade movement represent an alternative to the global economic system, which many see as essentially broken and dysfunctional? Or does it remain dependent upon it?

Uma admits her concern. “The one thing that bothered me all the time is that we are plugging into an existing economic order that is unsustainable, even though we are trying to help the disadvantaged. I don’t think the existing world economy will ever become fully fair trade: we have to live with that. At the same time, we must have faith that something else will transcend it, reflecting a shift of consciousness deep within.

“Until then, it is a good start to have fair trade as a movement.”