COOPARA was established in 2000, 80 km north of Abidjan. This organisation supports 639 cocoa farmers in the region with the production, processing and marketing of their cocoa. COOPARA aims to secure the future of cocoa production by focusing on sustainability. The farmers face serious problems: ageing plants, poor quality of cocoa and a thinning farmers’ population.
In the remote district of Busia in western Uganda, more than 600 farmers are trying to supplement their meagre incomes through gold mining. They work hard in the mining galleries dug by the farmers themselves and earn very little because they are subject to unscrupulous brokers. Moreover, this activity is very polluting. With the support of the TDC, SAMA, an organisation of miners, has been able to improve its management, develop more sustainable (mercury-free) production techniques and improve its access to the market.
The Yuracaré – an indigenous population of hunters and gatherers – live in the Bolivian part of the Amazon Basin, in the central Bolivian lowlands north of Cochabamba. Collecting wild or forest cocoa – a chocolate lover’s quality product – is an important activity for this small community. Over the past decades, the habitat of the Yuracaré has been threatened by deforestation. Through the new constitution, which gives indigenous communities ‘native community lands’, the Yuracaré want to protect their way of life.
The coffee industry is swimming in paradox. On the one hand, the beverage is more consumed and appreciated than ever before around the world. On the other hand, the remuneration of producers is at its lowest point, so much so that more than half of them now sell the fruits of their labour at a loss…
Bearberry villages in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, lovely valleys like green oases in the midst of rugged mountains… this is the picture you are offered by ‘Les Rencontres d’Aït Aïssa’. Rencontres’ or encounters indicate the legendary hospitality of the Berbers. Aït Aïssa’ refers to the name of the first valley where the association was active. It is located in a 100 km wide area near Errachidia, in the southeast of Morocco.
The 6th International Fair Trade Milk Conference, which took place on Saturday 12 October in Libramont, had a very special dimension this time: for the first time, breeders from Africa and Europe came together to celebrate together the success of their milk projects. They also awarded Golden Faironika awards to politicians, journalists and colleagues in recognition of their exceptional commitment to equity.
The Souss-Massa-Drâa region in southern Morocco is facing many challenges. In addition to the threat of the advancing Sahara, the traditional Berber communities are also persistently poor. Since a few years the Trade for Development Centre is very active in the region, with on one hand financial assistance to the local NGO Ibn Al Baytar, and on the other hand marketing support in projects of the Belgian development agency. A sustainable future for the region inevitably depends on the development of local assets such as argan oil, dates and saffron.
The small coffee producers in Guatemala guarantee a fair income and offer consumers in the North a high quality product: this is the double challenge of Café Chorti, a fair trade initiative which guarantees that the coffee is delivered directly to our cup.
The smartphones industry greatly contributes to some of the worst environmental and human rights problems in the world such as electronic waste and massive CO2 emissions as well as tough labour conditions and devastating sourcing practices
To address this situation, Fairphone, a social enterprise based in the Netherlands, took on the challenge and turned making smartphones into a means for change. Now, Fairphone has just launched its third eponymous smartphone.
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) is a global initiative born in Colombia in 2004 with the aim of empowering artisanal and small-scale miners and their organisations. ARM’s fair trade standard, Fairmined, incorporates four main categories of criteria that mining organisations must meet. These relate to issues of social development, economic development, environmental protection and respect for working conditions.
