Essential Reading

How Goldman gambled on starvation
Johann Hari writes about the financial speculation on food commodities that inflicted so much pain on poor people in 2006 and 2007, and a new campaign from WDM to get it regulated.

Multinationals: Self-interest drives new attitudes to agriculture
Rowenna Davis writes in the Financial Times about global agribusiness waking up to smallholder farmers.

Is it a Fairtrade break for Kit Kat?
Blog from Chris Wheal on the occasion of Kit Kat going Fairtrade, comparing Nestlé to Divine Chocolate.

Capitalism chews over fair trade
Alex Renton writes in The Guardian about Fairtrade accreditation and big business.

Oversight of Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Cocoa Sector in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana
The Payson Centre at Tulane University is overseeing efforts under the Harkin-Engel Protocol to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Comprehensive surveys and reports.

Wall Street wounded Ghana. IMF tonic could hurt it more
Polly Toynbee writes in the Guardian about the impact of recent global crises on Ghana, and whether the IMF or G20 will offer any real help

The global food crisis and Fairtrade: Small farmers, big solutions?
Succinct and powerful Fairtrade Foundation report by Mark Curtis looking at the situation of smallholder farmers in a world of rising commodity prices.

Fairer Than Fairtrade
Andrew Purvis writes in the Observer about the striking difference between 'normal' Fairtrade, such as that sold under own brand labels by the supermarkets, and what the 100 per cent Fairtrade companies like Divine Chocolate, Cafédirect and Liberation Nuts are doing. June 2008.

These objects of contempt are now our best chance of feeding the world
George Monbiot argues in the Guardian that in a time of rising food and oil prices, the greater productivity of small scale farming as opposed to big agriculture is more important than ever. Fairtrade 'might now be necessary not only as a means of redistributing income, but also to feed the world'. June 2008.

From tree-minders to global players: Cocoa farmers in Ghana
Pauline Tiffen, Jacqui MacDonald, Haruna Mamaah and Frema Osei-Opare. September 2004.

The Cocoa Chain
New Internationalist, Issue 304, August 1998

Towards a Sustainable Cocoa Chain: Power and possibilities within the cocoa and chocolate sector
Oxfam report looking at concentration of power in the industry and what is needed for a sustainable cocoa economy.