We might think of sub-Saharan subsistence economies when we think of Fairtrade, but the biggest recipient of Fairtrade subsidy is actually Mexico. Mexico is the biggest producer of Fairtrade coffee with about 23% market share. Indeed, as of 2002, 181 of the 300 Fairtrade coffee producers were located in South America and the Caribbean. As Marc Sidwell points out , while Mexico has 51 Fairtrade producers, Burundi has none, Ethiopia four and Rwanda just 10 – meaning that "Fairtrade pays to support relatively wealthy Mexican coffee farmers at the expense of poorer nations".

The article offers many other points of interest. For instance:

By guaranteeing a minimum price, Fairtrade also encourages market

oversupply, which depresses global commodity prices. This locks

Fairtrade farmers into greater Fairtrade dependency and further

impoverishes farmers outside the Fairtrade umbrella. Economist Tyler

Cowen describes this as the "parallel exploitation coffee sector".

Coffee

farms must not be more than 12 acres in size and they are not allowed

to employ any full-time workers. This means that during harvest season

migrant workers must be employed on short-term contracts. These rural

poor are therefore expressly excluded from the stability of long-term

employment by Fairtrade rules.