French jeans manufacturer uses cotton at above market price to try to help West African farmers under 'fair trade' concept

from The Houston Chronicle

Doing good in denim

By JENNY BARCHFIELD

PARIS - It turns out that fashion's baddest, coolest, most rock 'n' roll fabric — denim — has a do-good side, too.

Bluejeans made from cotton bought from impoverished African growers at above the market rate are making their debut in Europe. Their French manufacturer, Rica Lewis, bills them as the world's first jeans to be created from 100 percent "fair trade" cotton.

The fair trade movement aims to support small farmers in developing countries by buying their products at a fixed price that cushions them from fluctuations in global markets and provides them a better living. From coffee, produce and tea, the gamut of fair trade products has expanded to include apparel — first cotton basics like socks, underwear and T-shirts, and now jeans.

"We wanted to turn shopping into an act of solidarity," Rica Lewis director general Dominique Larson said in an interview.

Harvesting by hand
Cotton represents an estimated 30 percent of export earnings for countries in West and Central Africa, and at least 10 million people depend directly on cotton production.

Most work tiny parcels of land, sowing the cotton seed, tending the plants and harvesting by hand. With few facilities to spin, dye and weave raw cotton, African growers have little choice but to sell to intermediaries who resell it to fabric factories in Europe and Asia.

The system works better when prices are high. When they are low — as they have been for years — African producers often sell at a loss.

Rica Lewis teamed with Max Havelaar, a nonprofit organization that certifies products as "fair trade" in Europe and contacted growers in Cameroon, in West Africa, offering them a guaranteed minimum price. Larson said the cotton costs Rica Lewis 70 percent more than the average world price.

15 percent more
At $45 per pair, the fair trade jeans are 15 percent more expensive than Rica Lewis' regular line, which retails for about $39. The company makes jeans under the Rica Lewis line and other apparel under the label Carnet de Vol.

The men's model, launched in May, comes in four stonewashed shades. Two women's models — a skinny jean and a boot cut, both in two shades — followed in November. They sell in stores in Spain, Italy, Belgium and France.

Only 100,000 of the nearly 3 million pairs that Rica Lewis makes annually carry the Max Havelaar seal certifying them as free trade.

"It's a drop in the bucket now," Larson acknowledged.

He said he hopes free trade models will account for 15 percent of the label's total production in three years, although that will depend on sales.

Larson added that the idea is not a charity venture, and he hopes eventually to make a profit from the jeans.

Some are skeptical
Skeptics say the limited output suggests a marketing ploy rather than a serious attempt to help poor Africans. Others complain that by focusing exclusively on the cotton producers, Rica Lewis has not gone far enough.

"Cotton growers are earning a living wage, but what about all the other laborers whose work goes into making the jeans?" said Daniel Joutard, who lectures on the fair trade industry at Paris' Dauphine University.

Still, he described the initiative as a step in the right direction.

A root of the problem for African growers remains developed-world subsidies. They can produce cotton more cheaply than rich nations, but are undercut by huge subsidies paid by the United States, the European Union and China to their domestic cotton industries.

West African nations have lobbied the World Trade Organization to reduce the subsidies, to no avail.