Did you know that the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to one of the biggest aromatic oil producers? Avituri, a fair and organic cultivator and distiller, was able to double its production of geranium oil and expand its offer with other plants such as thyme thanks to TDC’s financial support.
While the palm oil industry is still investigating how to stop the destruction of human and environmental resources in South East Asia, fair alternatives already exist, such as palm oil projects in Ghana, Togo and Ecuador which have been certified and have obtained the Fair for Life label.
In 1965 Belgian and Peruvian ministers signed a first development cooperation agreement. Half a century later the Belgian development agency is still operating in the Andes country where the Trade for Development Centre supports five fair and sustainable trade projects. Reason enough to go and visit the cocoa farmers, physalis producers, loggers, textile workers and miners behind these projects.
Projects in Peru, Congo and Morocco highlight the fact that to turn fair and sustainable trade into a means of leverage in the fight against poverty and inequality reduction – which is the Trade for Development Centre’s view – two questions must be kept in mind when approving projects: who does the work when producing goods and who manages the profits once the project boosts revenue?
You have undoubtedly noticed them on supermarket shelves in the exotic fruit section: boxes of bright orange berries crowned by green-brown, papery sepals. Where do they come from and what is the story behind these ‘lanterns’? And where can we find organic and fair trade ones? We found answers to these questions in Colombia and Peru.
In regions where existing ecosystems suffer from human pressure, tourism can provide part of the solution.
Inspired by successful experiences elsewhere in the world, the Honeyguide Foundation, with the financial assistance of the Trade for Development Centre, supports the development of sustainable tourism in the north of Tanzania. The Maasai population is given an extra financial incentive to protect its natural environment.
Burundi, a small Central African country, is one of the poorest countries in the world. The coffee sector is a major economic player since it generates more than half of Burundi’s export revenues. It is also the main source of revenue for almost 750,000 families. The privatisation made coffee growers join forces in cooperatives and build their own washing stations.
The TDC supports the Consortium of Coffee Growers Cooperatives COCOCA and two of iets members to allow producers to obtain a larger share of the added value.
To make global food production more sustainable, more and more scientists advocate organic agriculture. Trade for Development Centre (TDC) grants financial support to some ten projects that have made this choice.
Beekeepers and weavers in Tanzania, coffee growers and the craft women in Uganda: they all share their motivation and pride about the products they make. But they hardly know which consumers are willing to pay a fair price for their products.
The TDC supports the Tighanimine women’s cooperative which has produced fair trade argan oil in South Morocco since 2010. There is huge demand for this oil, not only as a miraculous ingredient for cosmetics, but also as a flavour for cooking. The TDC sent a reporter to Morocco to take a look behind the scenes of the production process and the lives of the workers, all of which are Berber women.
