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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
