That’s what some Nicaraguan fair trade co-operatives are now calculating. Upside Down World describes how this development began with a sesame oil contract with The Body Shop and has now caught on among green coffee co-ops in the country as well.

There are three types of unpaid work mainly done by women: work which is part of actual production although unpaid (like sorting coffee cherries); work which contributes indirectly to production (like washing work clothes); and domestic and other work in the home which contributes generally to the stability of the household and the community.

The innovation of this initiative lies in the fact that it includes pay not only for the first and second of ...