Flyer Trade for Development Centre

© Simon Rawles

© BTC / Josiane Droeghag

© BTC / Jan Locus

Who are we?

The Trade for Development Centre (TDC) is a Belgian Development Agency (BTC) programme.

We have three tasks: to support producers, to inform and to raise awareness.

BTC Belgian development agency rue haute 147 1000 Brussels T +32 (0)2 505 19 37 TDC@BTCCTB.ORG www.befair.be www.btcctb.org

Managing editor: Carl Michiels, rue Haute 147, 1000 Brussels - Photograph cover: © BTC / Dieter Telemans

TDC aims to promote fair and sustainable trade and to improve market access for micro, small and mediumsized enterprises in countries in the South.

Trade for Development Centre

© BTC / Josiane Droeghag

© BTC / Dieter Telemans

Support producers

 Marketing plan for Siyavuna in South Africa: We developed a strategy with this cooperative to sell its members’ organic vegetables and fruit on the local market. Now, they bring their fresh and healthy produce directly to consumers who are willing to pay more for it.

Financial support

We finance activities that provide better market access to SMEs as well as producer organisations active in fair and sustainable trade and established in one of the 18 partner countries* of the Belgian Development Cooperation.  Fair trade gold in Bolivia: In 2011, Cotapata was the first cooperative in the world to bring fair trade gold on the market. TDC financed the process to obtain “Fairtrade and fairmined” certification.  Fair trade coffee from Kivu: For many years, local coffee growers from South Kivu had difficulties selling their coffee due to the security situation in the region. We financed a project that helps SOPACDI, a cooperative that unites more than 3000 coffee farmers, to market their fair trade coffee.

marketing support

We counsel producers and authorities to obtain sustainable revenues from their production. We help them better understand their markets and search for and make most of new opportunities. Such marketing support can take on several forms, depending on the needs: advice in strategic marketing and business management, marketing coaching and providing market-related information.

* Algeria, Benin, Bolivia, Burundi, Congo (Dem.Rep.), Ecuador, Mali, Morocco,

Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam.

© BTC / Josiane Droeghag

 Analysing sales by small farmers of palm dates and saffron in Morocco: On the basis of the results, we advised Moroccan authorities on how they can help local producers obtain better and fairer revenues from their production.

Inform TDC closely follows the evolution of fair and sustainable trade. We try to inform consumers, authorities, producers and other economic actors as objectively as possible with opinion surveys, market studies, articles and brochures, among other things.  Fair trade, also in the North? With this article TDC attracted (media) attention and started a debate on this issue within the fair trade sphere.  Market research for organic spices from Tanzania: The members of TOAM (Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement) had no idea of their market potential in neighbouring countries. Thanks to this study they will be able to make most of the added value of their organic products on the regional market.

© BTC / Dieter Telemans

© BTC / Josiane Droeghag

Raise awareness TDC organises campaigns to raise awareness with consumers, businesses and Belgian authorities for fair and sustainable trade. The Fair Trade Week, which is organised in the beginning of October every year, is our best known campaign.  Increased familiarity: Belgians have grown more familiar with fair trade since the first Fair Trade Week, from 32% familiarity in 2002 to 90% today.  www.weekvandefairtrade.be: In 2012 we launched this campaign website. It promoted 145 fair trade activities throughout Belgium and reached 7000 unique visitors.