Organic Agriculture and Fair Trade: A Happy Marriage? A Case Study of Certified Smallholder Black Pepper Farmers in India

This study examines whether the joint adoption of organic and fair trade systems adds additional benefits to smallholders in developing countries. We use panel data collected from 300 smallholder rural black pepper growers in Kerala, India to assess household welfare impacts. We apply a multinomial endogenous switching regression model along with a counterfactual analysis to estimate certification effects. Results show that both certification systems have a significant impact on income compared to conventional black pepper farming. However, membership in fair trade marketing systems does not increase income of organic farmers, but has positive effects on asset accumulation of smallholder farmers. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.