Understanding values-based food labeling as rural development strategy in Colombia. Comparative analysis: Fair trade, geographical indications and organic labels in the coffee region and the Buenaventura rural area (Phase 1)

Abstract

Poverty in many rural areas of developing countries is not a new story. Rural farmers face many financial and market barriers. Furthermore, conventional farming practices are afflicted by free market pressure to produce more food for less income, resulting in destruction of the environment and neglecting human and animal welfare. Value based labeling offers alternatives to conventional food markets as they provide ethical principles to counter unsustainable trends within the capitalism system as stated by Elizabeth Barham. Hence, a planned study is aimed at evaluating selected labels such as fair trade, geographical indication/denomination of origin and organic certification in the context of the Buenaventura rural area, taking into account the lessons learned and experiences from the coffee region. Thus the labels will be explained as well as the objectives and methodology of the doctoral thesis. Finally, the findings and conclusions of the initial exploratory research draw useful insights of the current situation.