News and publications

Coaching producers’ groups in business management

June 22nd 2018

Since several years the Trade for Development Centre has been coaching cooperatives active in fair or sustainable trade to better market their products. Very often it was confronted with the cooperatives’ poor knowledge of how to manage their organisation. This led to a new series of modules, more specifically coaching in business management. This report outlines our initial experience with the new module in Uganda, Rwanda and Benin.

Study of European market for SPP-products

June 15th 2018

Market research and Development of a marketing plan to increase the sales of products of SPP certified Small Producers Organizations from the South on the West European market.

Bruges launches its own fair trade chocolate

May 17th 2018

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.

TDC and sustainable tourism in Tanzania

February 27th 2018

The Enduimet Wildlife Management Area is located in Tanzania, right next to Kilimanjaro. This area is mainly inhabited by the Masai, but is also the home of elephants and many other wild animal species. The local Masai community was looking for a way to improve their standard of living and at the same time take greater care of the animals and their environment. They found a solution in the development of responsible tourism with the support of the Trade for Development Center and the local NGO Honeyguide Foundation. Check out for yourself how they do this!

Strong market potential for sustainably certified African coffee in Belgium

December 12th 2017

In collaboration with the Trade for Development Centre of the Belgian Development Agency (BTC) and UTZ, Euromonitor International has conducted a study to investigate the market potential for third-party certified African coffee in Belgium (Fairtrade, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance).

Enabel supports Vietnamese cocoa cooperatives in their fair trade certification.

December 1st 2017

Fair trade certification is expected to help Vietnamese cocoa enter the EU market, especially after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement takes effect (2019), experts have said.

Ethical products in South Africa

November 10th 2017

The Trade for Development Centre and Ask Africa worked together on a market study to look into the popularity of ethical products in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to analyse the attitude of South Africans towards ethical products, certified Fairtrade, MSC, FCS, etc.

South Africa: Fair Trade Tourism

November 9th 2017

Around 2000, the South African NGO Fair Trade Tourism (FTT) started to put in place a fair certification programme for tourism products. The standard includes fair remuneration, decent working conditions, a fair sharing of revenue and respect for cultural traditions and the environment. Special attention is paid to the South African context, with training of black workers, co-management by black people and awareness-raising on HIV and AIDS. Two decades later, more than 79 initiatives such as hotels, lodges or adventure activities have been certified.

CECOFA: Robusta from Uganda

October 28th 2017

In 2015, CECOFA applied for marketing support which the TDC was offering at the time to Central African coffee cooperatives.

Marketing expertise key to value chain approach

October 20th 2017

Belgium’s governmental development cooperation (BTC) for agricultural projects increasingly uses value chain approaches. To start, a particular crop’s value chain – not only the production on the field but also the next stages – is analysed. After all, what’s the use of a high-quality and sustainable product if it cannot be sold? Where can farmers find potential customers and how should they communicate with them? In the south of Morocco a project in the saffron and dates value chains is in its third year. It is the first BTC project in which the Trade for Development Centre (TDC) has been involved from its formulation because of its marketing expertise with producer groups in the South. Midway this project we drew up a state of affairs.

Coaching producers’ groups in business management

Study of European market for SPP-products