Trade for Development Centre is a programme of Enabel, the Belgian development agency.

Articles

Imported deforestation: global trade’s long-denied collateral damage

Deforestation is not the result of market demand for timber alone. Many farm commodities and products traded daily on global markets are contributing to deforestation in a less obvious way. As the demand for these products increases, new arable land is required for soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, and other commodity crops. There is little action to resolve this issue as public authorities remain passive and private companies are lured by profit, but things are finally starting to move…

Read more »

AMAP: organic products in Benin

“Why could Benin not succeed in doing what France did?” That was an idea Edgar Deguenon took home to Benin in 2008 after an internship in France. He had visited many organic farming and short supply chain initiatives. Such initiatives can also help resolve issues that farmers in Benin face such as the high usage of pesticides and the related health problems, or the long supply chains with many intermediaries, which put much pressure on the farmers and keep prices low. With ten years of experience in this area, AMAP is a small organisation that explores the domestic organic products market and pioneers in connecting producers and consumers.

Read more »

Slow flowers

Since the 1990s, the flower industry too has been globalized. In 2013 the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) was set up with the goal that 90% of flowers traded on the international market would come from sustainable farms by 2020. The slow flower movement are tending towards an alternative approach; they are choosing to grow flowers organically and outdoors, and then using short supply chains to deliver them to their customers.

Read more »

The hidden side of a diamond

Kimberley Process, Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, as well as the Diamond and Development Initiative and its Maendeleo label used by the Belgian company My Fair Diamond, the TDC looks at various initiatives aimed at breaking the link between the diamond trade and social misery.

Read more »

Ethical sneakers

The number of shoe brands claiming to be ethical and/or ecological has mushroomed in recent years. So much so that some of them are on the verge of becoming major players on this huge market. Fleeting fad or a sea change for a business that is worth tens of billions of dollars?

Read more »

NAPP: Fair trade cocoa in Vietnam

Even though cocoa was already introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th century, cocoa production remained marginal for more than a century. Not until 2000, a government plan was launched to promote the crop in several regions. Vietnam is still a small player on the cocoa market but it has potential. The NAPP (Network of Asia and Pacific Producers), the umbrella organisation of Fairtrade-certified producer groups in Asia, also believes in the potential of Fairtrade cocoa.

Read more »

Imported deforestation: global trade’s long-denied collateral damage

Deforestation is not the result of market demand for timber alone. Many farm commodities and products traded daily on global markets are contributing to deforestation in a less obvious way. As the demand for these products increases, new arable land is required for soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, and other commodity crops. There is little action to resolve this issue as public authorities remain passive and private companies are lured by profit, but things are finally starting to move…

Read more »

AMAP: organic products in Benin

“Why could Benin not succeed in doing what France did?” That was an idea Edgar Deguenon took home to Benin in 2008 after an internship in France. He had visited many organic farming and short supply chain initiatives. Such initiatives can also help resolve issues that farmers in Benin face such as the high usage of pesticides and the related health problems, or the long supply chains with many intermediaries, which put much pressure on the farmers and keep prices low. With ten years of experience in this area, AMAP is a small organisation that explores the domestic organic products market and pioneers in connecting producers and consumers.

Read more »

Slow flowers

Since the 1990s, the flower industry too has been globalized. In 2013 the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) was set up with the goal that 90% of flowers traded on the international market would come from sustainable farms by 2020. The slow flower movement are tending towards an alternative approach; they are choosing to grow flowers organically and outdoors, and then using short supply chains to deliver them to their customers.

Read more »

The hidden side of a diamond

Kimberley Process, Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, as well as the Diamond and Development Initiative and its Maendeleo label used by the Belgian company My Fair Diamond, the TDC looks at various initiatives aimed at breaking the link between the diamond trade and social misery.

Read more »

Ethical sneakers

The number of shoe brands claiming to be ethical and/or ecological has mushroomed in recent years. So much so that some of them are on the verge of becoming major players on this huge market. Fleeting fad or a sea change for a business that is worth tens of billions of dollars?

Read more »

NAPP: Fair trade cocoa in Vietnam

Even though cocoa was already introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th century, cocoa production remained marginal for more than a century. Not until 2000, a government plan was launched to promote the crop in several regions. Vietnam is still a small player on the cocoa market but it has potential. The NAPP (Network of Asia and Pacific Producers), the umbrella organisation of Fairtrade-certified producer groups in Asia, also believes in the potential of Fairtrade cocoa.

Read more »

Search

  • Filter on content

  • Filter on sector

Follow us

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed on news and activities of TDC.

This website uses cookies to make sure you have the best possible user experience.