The fair trade movement and globalization: No one need die marching from Matagalpa to Managua

Rural coffee workers walking to their death are a stark reminder that free trade and globalization as they are proposed by the nations of the north and their large financial institutions do not equal ‘fair trade.’ As this thesis will demonstrate, this is especially true for small coffee growers and their families practicing the trades and skills engrained in their unique cultural experience. In what follows I describe the historical development of the world coffee bean trade, discuss the current situation of small coffee growers based on a fact-finding trip to Nicaragua, and consider several strategies for getting small growers a much better deal in the global economy.