In fact the dispute is so large that it is often referred to as the coffee crisis. Experiencing some of the worst of this devastation from the crisis is Central American country Nicaragua. .
"The big transnationals are making a heap of money," says Blanca Rosa Molina, a Nicaraguan coffee farmer brought to Canada by Oxfam. "But we are getting less than ever before." Five years ago Molina's coffee co-operative sold its organic coffee beans for US$1.80 a pound. Now a pound of beans is worth only about fifty cents. (Sarah Cox). .
It also doesn't help Ms. Blanca that out of the $.50/lb of coffee beans, she only receives approximately $.055/lb (11%), after trade cost, export cost, roasting, transporting, importing, distribution tax, and FT license fees. A top of many other matters, this is one of the problems Fair trade is fighting for. Because of trade agreements created by NAFTA only such coffee titans like Brazil and Vietnam are benefiting in coffee exports. In fact CNN news stated that due to the fall in some coffee exports, Vietnam's coffee output has nearly doubled in the past 5 years. .
Another ongoing battle of Fair trade is their effort to save employment in Mexico. Due to the unjust tariffs placed on their countries broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries and tomatoes, 30 percent of Mexico's manufacturing jobs will be depleted. A total of 1.6 million people in Mexico will be out of work; this is a mere one third of the jobs lost in the U.S. in the duration of this process. .
Finally, one of the bigger and most common battles of Fair trade, are ongoing and upcoming sweatshops. Major companies around the world have participated in this, what humanitarians call, "immoral production in 3rd world countries". Their efforts and motifs are to take advantage of the local cost of living. Rather than paying $5 to produce a shirt here, they spend $.23 a week per employee to produce hundreds of shirts. They also force workers to work in a horrible work atmosphere and countless hours every day of the week.
