Open letter for fair prices

Farmers worldwide often earn too little for the work they do. Big companies set the prices, while the people who produce our food can’t make a living. It’s time for the European Commission to change that by ensuring that farmers at least have prices that cover their cost of production. During this year's Fair Trade Week (1 - 11 October), we urge people to sign our open letter for fair prices.

UNFAIR PRICES: A GLOBAL PROBLEM

Farmers worldwide are often paid prices that are too low for their products – often less than the cost of production. Small-scale farmers are asked to produce cheaply — while competing with subsidized, industrial players. The power relations in the chain are fundamentally skewed. This broken system leads to poverty, unsustainable farming, and even child labor.

Many people who produce our food earn barely enough to get by. That is unacceptable.

  • European farmers earn on average 42% less than the average wage.
  • Between 2005 and 2020, 5 million farms disappeared in Europe.

This picture is even worse for many farmers in the Global South.

  • For example, around 5 million small-scale farmers, mainly in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, supply the majority of cocoa to the EU. Up to 58% of them live below the poverty line.
  • But the issue is not limited to the cocoa sector. Across West-Africa, it is said only one in two producers breaks even.

Stop exploitation, support strong EU legislation

Voluntary initiatives are nice, but not enough. As long as the system remains flawed, we keep running into the same limits. That’s why Oxfam is calling on the European Commission for EU legislation that prohibits buying products below the costs of sustainable production – both within and outside the EU.

Sign our open letter

In November 2025, European policymakers will meet to review the directive on unfair trading practices. We must raise our voices now to secure a guarantee of fair prices.

To the attention of the European Commission,
Dear Mr. Fabien Santini and Ms. Sophie Helaine,

The people who produce our food hardly earn enough to survive. That is unacceptable.

  • European farmers earn on average 42% less than the average wage.
  • Between 2005 and 2020, 5 million farms disappeared in Europe.

This picture is even worse for many farmers in the Global South.

  • For example, around 5 million small-scale farmers, mainly in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, supply the majority of cocoa to the EU. Up to 58% of them live below the poverty line.
  • But the issue is not limited to the cocoa sector. Across West-Africa, it is said only one in two producers breaks even.

Small-scale farmers are asked to produce cheaply — while competing with subsidized, industrial players. The power relations in the chain are fundamentally skewed. This broken system causes poverty, child labor, and environmental damage. Low prices prevent farmers from working sustainably and force them to resort to harmful practices. This jeopardizes the future. In 2024, farmers across Europe demanded change. Now it’s up to you to act. I therefore ask you to take the following actions.

  • A timely and thorough review of the EU Directive on Unfair Trading practices so that the legislation addresses underlying power imbalances in agri-food supply chains.
  • The introduction and enforcement of a ban on buying below the cost of sustainable production, so that producers, wherever they are located, are fairly compensated.

Farmers are entitled to a fair price. This is the only way to build a viable and fair food system.

Sincerely,