Fairtrade City

The Fair Trade Towns campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizens movement that started in the UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local geographical area) as a region that complies with a few general Fair Trade criteria, that can be adapted from country to country but which retain their main elements.

In some countries, the Fair Trade Town became a status awarded by a recognized Fair Trade certification body (i.e. the Fairtrade Foundation in the United Kingdom, TransFair Canada in Canada etc.) describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fair Trade certified goods. By extension, the organizations also award the statuses of Fair Trade City, Fair Trade Village, Fair Trade Zone, Fair Trade Borough, Fair Trade Island, Fair Trade Country and Fair Trade University.

The Fair Trade Town campaign was first launched in 2001 in Garstang, Lancashire, under the initiative of Bruce Crowther, a local Oxfam supporter, and the Garstang Oxfam Group. The initiative, which aimed to promote Fair Trade certified goods in the town, was highly successful: within a couple of months, awareness of the Fairtrade Mark jumped to over 70% in the town while sales of Fairtrade certified goods increased significantly. Moreover, over the course of the campaign, Garstang developed links with Fair Trade cocoa farming communities in West Africa, which led to the twin town relationship with New Koforidua, Ghana.

As the activities at Garstang gained wider attention, the Fairtrade Foundation launched a set of Fair Trade Town Goals and an Action Guide to encourage others to follow in the town's success. During the 2001-2006 period, over 209 British towns were awarded the Fair Trade status by the Fairtrade Foundation. In October 2009 448 British towns and 312 towns worldwide awarded the Fair Trade status (in total 760). In November 2012, there were over 1200 worldwide.

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