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Home › Fair Trade › What it Means to Artisans

What Fair Trade Means to Artisans

Bringing Hope, Dignity, Joy and Respect

Many artisans tell us that fair trade brings them much more than regular work and fair pay. They begin to see hope for the future, earn dignity and respect in their community and experience joy in being able to provide for their families:

Fair Trade Means Hope

Shantha Lakshmi is a palm leaf artisan who is a member of the artisan group called SHARE near the town of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
Read more about hope.

Fair Trade Means Dignity

Lucio Malhue is a potter in his brother’s workshop in Pomaire, Chile.
Read more about dignity.

Fair Trade Means Joy

Making kaisa grass baskets brings joy to Kalpana Rani in Hazigonj, Bangladesh.
Read more about joy.

Fair Trade

IFAT

Ten Thousand Villages is a founding member of theInternational Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and a member of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF), both of which aim to improve the livelihood of disadvantaged people in developing countries and to change unfair structures of international trade.

Read more about the IFAT key principles of fair trade and code of practice

Ten Thousand Villages. A Fair Trade Retailer.
Your fair trade purchase of handmade jewelry, home decor and gifts helps improve the lives of thousands of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.