April 27th, Yeyasso, Fairtrade Belgium, Galler Chocolaterie and Enabel’s TDC organised a webinar on the living income gap in the cocoa sector. Measuring this gap between the real household incomes of producers and what is considered a decent income is really important. It can also be a tool to better define policies to support producers, by cooperatives of other stakeholders.
Enabel’s Trade for Development Centre coaches producer cooperatives and Business support organisations (BSO’s) in business management, finance and marketing. The TDC has also started to support cooperatives in calculating the living income gap in producers’ households.
The Trade for Development Centre (TDC) wants to increase its impact. That’s why it’s not limiting itself to directly supporting cooperatives in the South. The TDC also assists ‘business support organisations’, which in turn support other organisations locally. We zoom in on this lesser-known, but no less effective form of support.
For many years now, we’ve known that the way we consume has negative consequences on both people and planet. The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people working for major clothing brands, shone a light on the appalling working conditions in sweatshops. On 27 September 2022, Enabel’s TDC hosted a conference on ethical clothing, followed by a fashion show. The event was attended by more than 150 people. The debates focused on two key questions: Have working conditions in the textile industry improved since the collapse of Rana Plaza? And is Made in Europe a guarantee of decent work?
Cocoa cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire have been receiving coaching from Enabel’s Trade for Development Centre (TDC) for many years. What challenges are these cooperatives facing? How does coaching work in practice? How can we increase its impact on the whole sector? These were the topics discussed by producers and coaches during a round table in Brussels.
During the Fair Trade Week, 2022, the Belgian roaster Koffie/Cafés Rombouts is launching “Virunga Coffee”, a fair trade coffee created in collaboration with the coffee farmers of the Virunga National Park in Congo. Since 2020, Enabel’s Trade for Development Centre has supported two cooperatives in the region that supply coffee to Rombouts:
The winners of the first edition of the Brussels Be Fair Awards have been announced. The 2022 edition recognises public services in the Brussels-Capital Region that encourage the public to consume fair trade products in Brussels. The municipality of Jette and the City of Brussels were presented with an award by Pascal Smet. The competition […]
Knitwear from Peruvian alpaca wool, throws made out of upcycled Indian saris, skilfully woven baskets from Kenya… the stylish products sold by Solid are really diverse. But they all have one thing in common: a positive impact for the people and communities who make all these unique items.
Need a present? Fair clothing? Delicious food from around the world? You’ll find it all at BorGerHub in Borgerhout. This concept store brings together start-up entrepreneurs and sells their products to conscious consumers. But BorGerHub is much more than just a shop. What started out in 2019 as an anti-squatting project in this beautiful 1930s […]
Enabel’s Trade for Development Center commanded a study for cocoa cooperatives in Ivory Coast who want to export their cocoa.
The report (FR) details these different steps and implications and also describes the conditions for a successful transition to export.
