Category: Articles (en)

Moroccan cooperatives contributing to sustainable future

Post author By Morgane
Post date September 20th 2019

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.

Tags argan, coaching, cooperative, dates, saffron

Articles (en)

Fairphone has just launched its third eponymous smartphone

Post author By Morgane
Post date September 9th 2019

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.

Tags fairphone, smartphone

Articles (en)

Fairmined: a label entirely dedicated to fair trade gold

Post author By Morgane
Post date August 14th 2019

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.

Tags fairmined, Fairtrade, gold, label, sustainable trade

Articles (en)

People approach in the TDC coaching sessions

Post author By Morgane
Post date June 9th 2019

These cocoa cooperatives aim to sell as much of their members’ cocoa as possible at the best conditions possible. But doing so is far from evident.

Articles (en)

Bean to bar

Post author By Morgane
Post date June 9th 2019

The production process that turns the cocoa bean into a chocolate bar requires many intermediary steps and involves multinational corporations. More and more chocolatiers all over the world now want to take the whole process in their own hands.

Articles (en)

Dominique Persoone opens chocolate factory in Congo

Post author By Morgane
Post date April 8th 2019

Three Belgians are about to open a chocolate factory near Virunga, Africa’s largest tropical rainforest reserve. This Unesco World Heritage site is run by a Belgian, Prince Emmanuel de Merode. He is one of three investors, along with the Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone and Dimitri Moreels, the owner of cocoa-exporting Copak.

Tags chocolate, chocolate factory, cocoa, Congo

Articles (en) Fair and sustainable trade

TDC and companies active in Belgium meet

Post author By Morgane
Post date April 2nd 2019

In recent years, many fair and sustainable trade cooperatives and small businesses from partner countries of the
Belgian Development Cooperation received support of the
Trade for Development Centre. Either in the form of
financial support or via coaching in marketing or finance and
business management, or a combination of the two.
The goal is always the same, i.e. improve the market opportunities for small producers. Some of these cooperatives
have developed business relations with businesses operating in Belgium.

Tags cooperative

Articles (en) Cacao Fair and sustainable trade

Voluntary sustainability standards in the cocoa sector

Post author By Morgane
Post date March 15th 2019

This presentation gives an overview on the advantages and shortcomings of the voluntary sustainability standards Fairtrade International, Utz and Rainforest Alliance in the cocoa sector.

Tags certification, cocoa

Articles (en)

Côte d’Ivoire: Centralisation of cocoa fermentation and improved market access

Post author By Morgane
Post date August 31st 2018

A pilot project supported by the Trade for Development Centre enables Coopara to centralise the fermentation and quality control of its cocoa. The results: 70% grade 1 cocoa, the Nestlé market within reach and the interest of Belvas, a Belgian producer of organic and fair trade chocolate.

Tags centralisation, cocoa, coopara, cooperative, Côte Ivoire, fermentation, Market access

Articles (en)

How sustainable is today’s cocoa?

Post author By Morgane
Post date July 8th 2018

After the cocoa industry was blamed for the many child labour scandals and because cocoa producers were being paid prices that were far too low, large chocolate companies took initiatives to improve the sustainability. What is the current situation, particularly after the cocoa price on the world market dropped significantly last year?
Even while market conditions are tough, across cocoa-producing regions cooperatives resolutely choose for sustainable or organic production and fair trade. Twenty of these cooperatives are supported by the Trade for Development Centre (TDC). To put a face on their endeavours, we visited Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire as well as Bolivia and Vietnam.

Tags cocoa, sustainable

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