Tighanimine is a women’s cooperative in southern Morocco that produces fair argan oil. This oil is a coveted ingredient in cosmetics and in the kitchen. Argan oil is pressed from the nuts of the argan tree which acts as a buffer against the advancing desertification in the region.
As part of its marketing coaching programme the TDC currently accompanies eight cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. One of these is SCINPA (Société Coopérative Ivoirienne de Négoce des Produits Agricoles), which was established in 2003 in Agboville, just north of Abidjan. With its four buy – in sites SCINPA is a trustworthy partner reaching 3000 members in the region. The cooperative has progressed much and has built quite some trust over the years, for instance by investing in community projects such as schools and water pumps and because it has always defended the interests of farmers even during political turmoil. SCINPA has one major customer: Cargill. It co-sponsors Utz certification and the farmer field schools.
In Peru, smallholder farmers grow ‘criollo porcelana’, a cocoa variety with a fine and delicate flavour that has attracted the attention of famous chocolatiers. Meanwhile, this cocoa blanco has won several quality prizes.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the cocoa country par excellence, ECOOKIM is rightly a pioneer. This cooperative, founded in 2004, is a national union that now brings together 23 local cooperatives in the country’s various cocoa growing areas. ECOOKIM defends the interests of no less than 12,000 of the most disadvantaged cocoa farmers. Its mission is to improve the quality of their cocoa in order to conquer the international market. In 2010 the cooperative obtained the Fairtrade certification, followed shortly afterwards by Utz and Rainforest Alliance.
In Burundi, ‘Horamama’ first and foremost brings to mind a traditional song which women sang on their way to the field or on their way home. The word means ‘courage’ or ‘power’ and helps them forget their tiredness. Today, Horamama is also a coffee brand of COCOCA, a union of 39 cooperatives from across the country.
Founded in 1963, COOPAKE, one of the oldest cooperatives in Burkina Faso, was born out of the desire of nine small mango producers in the west of the country to better sell their crops. However, it only really took off in the 1990s, when it started using ovens to dry mangoes. This processing of the fruit created jobs for dozens of women, but also enabled them to export to Europe.
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…
Tighanimine is a women’s cooperative in southern Morocco that produces fair argan oil. This oil is a coveted ingredient in cosmetics and in the kitchen. Argan oil is pressed from the nuts of the argan tree which acts as a buffer against the advancing desertification in the region.
As part of its marketing coaching programme the TDC currently accompanies eight cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire. One of these is SCINPA (Société Coopérative Ivoirienne de Négoce des Produits Agricoles), which was established in 2003 in Agboville, just north of Abidjan. With its four buy – in sites SCINPA is a trustworthy partner reaching 3000 members in the region. The cooperative has progressed much and has built quite some trust over the years, for instance by investing in community projects such as schools and water pumps and because it has always defended the interests of farmers even during political turmoil. SCINPA has one major customer: Cargill. It co-sponsors Utz certification and the farmer field schools.
In Peru, smallholder farmers grow ‘criollo porcelana’, a cocoa variety with a fine and delicate flavour that has attracted the attention of famous chocolatiers. Meanwhile, this cocoa blanco has won several quality prizes.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the cocoa country par excellence, ECOOKIM is rightly a pioneer. This cooperative, founded in 2004, is a national union that now brings together 23 local cooperatives in the country’s various cocoa growing areas. ECOOKIM defends the interests of no less than 12,000 of the most disadvantaged cocoa farmers. Its mission is to improve the quality of their cocoa in order to conquer the international market. In 2010 the cooperative obtained the Fairtrade certification, followed shortly afterwards by Utz and Rainforest Alliance.
In Burundi, ‘Horamama’ first and foremost brings to mind a traditional song which women sang on their way to the field or on their way home. The word means ‘courage’ or ‘power’ and helps them forget their tiredness. Today, Horamama is also a coffee brand of COCOCA, a union of 39 cooperatives from across the country.
Founded in 1963, COOPAKE, one of the oldest cooperatives in Burkina Faso, was born out of the desire of nine small mango producers in the west of the country to better sell their crops. However, it only really took off in the 1990s, when it started using ovens to dry mangoes. This processing of the fruit created jobs for dozens of women, but also enabled them to export to Europe.
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…
