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

News

Fair trade struggles to lift cocoa farmers out of poverty in Ivory Coast

In recent years, there have been numerous studies attesting that cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire, the main producing country, live in poverty. They earn EUR 0.86, around 1 dollar a day, according to Barry-Callebaut and the French Development Agency[1]. This income keeps them below the poverty line[2] and to make ends meet they have to resort to child labour and rampant deforestation (the productivity of cleared land required less labour in the early years).

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Bruges launches its own fair trade chocolate

Bruges is the first city in the world to launch its own fair trade chocolate bar, called Sjokla (as the word “chocolate” is pronounced in West Flanders). In doing so, the city, home to many chocolate makers, combines local craftsmanship and fair trade chocolate. The chocolate bar is also made from local ingredients.

Read more »

Made in Misery: Ethics in the garment industry after Rana Plaza

1138 Bangladeshi workers were found dead between loads of garments destined for the European and American markets after the six-floor Rana Plaza complex in the industrial outskirts of Dhaka collapsed on 24 April 2013. Asia’s largest industrial catastrophe – after Bhopal – did not only disclose construction shortcomings but also the race to the bottom in the garment sector, which this time led to a deadly finish. How have authorities, businesses, trade unions and NGOs responded? Does the consumer have any sustainable alternatives?

Read more »

The Small Producers Label

The idea had been in the air for some time. The “Small Producers’ Symbol” was officially launched in November 2010 in Honduras, during the 4th General Assembly of CLAC (the Latin American and Caribbean Coordination of Small Fair Trade Producers).

Read more »

Fair trade struggles to lift cocoa farmers out of poverty in Ivory Coast

In recent years, there have been numerous studies attesting that cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire, the main producing country, live in poverty. They earn EUR 0.86, around 1 dollar a day, according to Barry-Callebaut and the French Development Agency[1]. This income keeps them below the poverty line[2] and to make ends meet they have to resort to child labour and rampant deforestation (the productivity of cleared land required less labour in the early years).

Read more »

Bruges launches its own fair trade chocolate

Bruges is the first city in the world to launch its own fair trade chocolate bar, called Sjokla (as the word “chocolate” is pronounced in West Flanders). In doing so, the city, home to many chocolate makers, combines local craftsmanship and fair trade chocolate. The chocolate bar is also made from local ingredients.

Read more »

Made in Misery: Ethics in the garment industry after Rana Plaza

1138 Bangladeshi workers were found dead between loads of garments destined for the European and American markets after the six-floor Rana Plaza complex in the industrial outskirts of Dhaka collapsed on 24 April 2013. Asia’s largest industrial catastrophe – after Bhopal – did not only disclose construction shortcomings but also the race to the bottom in the garment sector, which this time led to a deadly finish. How have authorities, businesses, trade unions and NGOs responded? Does the consumer have any sustainable alternatives?

Read more »

The Small Producers Label

The idea had been in the air for some time. The “Small Producers’ Symbol” was officially launched in November 2010 in Honduras, during the 4th General Assembly of CLAC (the Latin American and Caribbean Coordination of Small Fair Trade Producers).

Read more »

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