Francisco van der Hoff. Photo: Solidaridad Network via X
Social justice pioneer Francisco van der Hoff had watched coffee farmers of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the Dutch-born Catholic missionary had worked for years, battle for years to get a fair price for their beans. He helped create a system in which the growers sold directly to consumers rather than middle men, creating what is now the fair-trade system.
A collaboration with economist Nico Roozen and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad, “Max Havelaar” launched in 1988 and became a model thousands followed. He paved the way for fair prices, wages, and living incomes for small and subsistence farmers across the globe. Six years later, as the initiative expanded into North America and Britain, it became Fairtrade. Today Fairtrade International, the umbrella body overseeing the many national fair-trade organisations, sells Fairtrade products worldwide and aids more than 2 million farmers directly. His work was acknowledged with many awards, including France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Van der Hoff died on February 13 aged 84. — Agencies
