On Thursday 4 February, Minister of Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne received the letter from two signatories, Ann Claes (JBC) and Bruno Van Steenberghe (Kalani), at the Evere branch of JBC.
Belgian and European fair trade in local products is on the up. At least 52.4 million euros worth was sold in 2019. In 2019 the milk crisis in Europe reached its peak: the prices that the farmers get for their milk are not even enough to cover their production costs. Since then, next to nothing […]
Ecam, Ecamom and Necaayo are three Ivorian cocoa cooperatives who followed TDC’s marketing coaching programme. In this documentary, we follow them and their coach Christine during the final coaching sessions. The producers explain how they experienced the whole process, how their capacities were strengthened and how they see the future.
The fair trade movement has always been environmentally conscious. Yet fair trade and environmentally conscious agriculture have for a long time developed separately, without looking for parallels. However, in recent years they have gradually grown closer together and sometimes they merge completely.
In 2020, ECAM and SCINPA were voted the best and second best cocoa cooperatives in Ivory Coast. Both received coaching in marketing from the Trade for Development Centre between 2016 and 2019.
Ecam, Ecamom and Necaayo are three Ivorian cocoa cooperatives who followed TDC’s marketing coaching programme. In this documentary, we follow them and their coach Christine Englebert during the final coaching sessions. The producers explain how they experienced the whole process, how their capacities were strengthened and how they see the future. They feel more self-assured, […]
Ray & Jules combines a desire to improve the world with a background in engineering. “The coffee sector produces 60 million tons of CO2 every year. We want to bring that down to zero. It’s ambitious, but doable. Technology like ours can open up new horizons in a sector that has been doing the same thing for over a hundred years. And with all of the associated consequences”, says co-owner Gert Linthout. Introducing a world-first: using solar energy to roast fairtrade coffee.
Every two years, the Trade for Development Centre publishes a barometer on fair trade, a survey that aims to present the awareness of fair trade in Belgium and the opinion and behaviour of Belgians on this topic. This year, questions were asked about changes in purchasing behaviour in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The EU wants to launch a legal framework for corporate due diligence with regard to human rights and the environment by 2021. “I see more and more support, also from companies. They are the ones asking for more certainty, to create a level playing field”, said European Commissioner Didier Reynders at a debate on the topic of CSR in company supply chains on the 29th of September.
Coronavirus, climate change, exploding inequality, destruction of biodiversity…the increasing number of crises is forcing us to face facts: we need to take a different approach to trade. We must accelerate the ecological and solidarity-based transition our society needs. And fair trade is the trump card to help achieve this.
