An international conference of "fair-trade towns" opened with preliminary events Friday in the city of Kumamoto — the first time the gathering has been held outside Europe — as campaigners look to nurture the ethical consumption movement in Asia.
"This is an opportunity for us to discuss how to bridge the North-South divide, protect the environment and how diverse the fair trade movement has become recently," said Shoko Akashi, head of the conference's steering committee.
Fair trade, which campaigners say started about 50 years ago in Europe as alternative trade, is designed to support producers of coffee, cocoa for chocolate, bananas, handicrafts and other primary items in developing countries by paying a fair price and promoting their collective and sustainable development.