Trade for Development Centre is a programme of Enabel, the Belgian development agency.
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TDC and companies active in Belgium meet

April 2nd 2019

In recent years, many fair and sustainable trade cooperatives and small businesses from partner countries of the
Belgian Development Cooperation received support of the
Trade for Development Centre. Either in the form of
financial support or via coaching in marketing or finance and
business management, or a combination of the two.
The goal is always the same, i.e. improve the market opportunities for small producers. Some of these cooperatives
have developed business relations with businesses operating in Belgium.

Read more »

TDC’s commitment to Beyond Chocolate partnership

December 20th 2018

On 5 December, the day before local ‘Sinterklaas’ visits children with toys and chocolate figurines, representatives of Belgium’s chocolate industry, retail sector and civil society signed the Beyond Chocolate partnership targeting 100 % sustainable Belgian chocolate by 2025 and a living income for all cocoa producers by 2030. Also Enabel signed the partnership, committing the Trade for Development Centre (TDC) to the initiative.

Read more »

Market study: hot beverages in Kenya and East Africa

November 8th 2018

The Trade for Development Centre (TDC) and Fairtrade Africa partnered with Euromonitor International to better understand the hot beverages market both in B2B (foodservice and institutions) and B2C (retail) channels, and the potential commercial opportunity for Fairtrade certified brands in Kenya and the wider region (Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda). The market research particularly focuses on the Fairtrade products as tea and coffee as the main hot beverages consumed by Kenyans but also on the powdered hot drinks such as hot chocolate.

Read more »

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

October 28th 2018

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 »

How sustainable is today’s cocoa?

July 8th 2018

After the cocoa industry was blamed for the many child labour scandals and because cocoa producers were being paid prices that were far too low, large chocolate companies took initiatives to improve the sustainability. What is the current situation, particularly after the cocoa price on the world market dropped significantly last year?
Even while market conditions are tough, across cocoa-producing regions cooperatives resolutely choose for sustainable or organic production and fair trade. Twenty of these cooperatives are supported by the Trade for Development Centre (TDC). To put a face on their endeavours, we visited Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire as well as Bolivia and Vietnam.

Read more »

Fair Trade Gold seeks customer

July 6th 2018

In countries such as the UK and the Netherlands, the awareness of fair trade gold is already well established, so some celebrities have started to display their fair trade jewellery. In Belgium, the progress is slower: you will only find 16 goldsmiths and jewellery designers working with Fairtrade or Fairmined certified materials.

Read more »

TDC and companies active in Belgium meet

April 2nd 2019

In recent years, many fair and sustainable trade cooperatives and small businesses from partner countries of the
Belgian Development Cooperation received support of the
Trade for Development Centre. Either in the form of
financial support or via coaching in marketing or finance and
business management, or a combination of the two.
The goal is always the same, i.e. improve the market opportunities for small producers. Some of these cooperatives
have developed business relations with businesses operating in Belgium.

Read more »

TDC’s commitment to Beyond Chocolate partnership

December 20th 2018

On 5 December, the day before local ‘Sinterklaas’ visits children with toys and chocolate figurines, representatives of Belgium’s chocolate industry, retail sector and civil society signed the Beyond Chocolate partnership targeting 100 % sustainable Belgian chocolate by 2025 and a living income for all cocoa producers by 2030. Also Enabel signed the partnership, committing the Trade for Development Centre (TDC) to the initiative.

Read more »

Market study: hot beverages in Kenya and East Africa

November 8th 2018

The Trade for Development Centre (TDC) and Fairtrade Africa partnered with Euromonitor International to better understand the hot beverages market both in B2B (foodservice and institutions) and B2C (retail) channels, and the potential commercial opportunity for Fairtrade certified brands in Kenya and the wider region (Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda). The market research particularly focuses on the Fairtrade products as tea and coffee as the main hot beverages consumed by Kenyans but also on the powdered hot drinks such as hot chocolate.

Read more »

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

October 28th 2018

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 »

How sustainable is today’s cocoa?

July 8th 2018

After the cocoa industry was blamed for the many child labour scandals and because cocoa producers were being paid prices that were far too low, large chocolate companies took initiatives to improve the sustainability. What is the current situation, particularly after the cocoa price on the world market dropped significantly last year?
Even while market conditions are tough, across cocoa-producing regions cooperatives resolutely choose for sustainable or organic production and fair trade. Twenty of these cooperatives are supported by the Trade for Development Centre (TDC). To put a face on their endeavours, we visited Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire as well as Bolivia and Vietnam.

Read more »

Fair Trade Gold seeks customer

July 6th 2018

In countries such as the UK and the Netherlands, the awareness of fair trade gold is already well established, so some celebrities have started to display their fair trade jewellery. In Belgium, the progress is slower: you will only find 16 goldsmiths and jewellery designers working with Fairtrade or Fairmined certified materials.

Read more »

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