Our Marketplace

The Problem

Basket weavers are usually forced to sell their products to middlemen for a pittance, who go on to sell their goods to shops for a profit for themselves.

The Solution

Our support service eliminates that middleman, buying directly from the artisans and providing them with a fair price for their work. Another part of this is that we also provide straw to the communities, in what we call, a Straw Bank. Straw can be expensive for the communities to buy from the market themselves. So what TradeAID does is buy the straw in bulk at opportune times when the price is lower and then it sells it to the communities for a cheaper price. 

By providing orders to the basket weavers from the international market, we are able to provide fair prices which will allow them to make a livelihood from their work, which they put so much time, skill and effort into. As a Fair Trade organization, this is crucial to our aims.

We also aim to improve the skills of the craft communities, providing training to help them diversify their products, as well as providing training which enables them to improve their business and marketing skills. For instance before TradeAID arrived it was the case that many of the communities would only be able to do one kind of basket. However, now, due to the product diversification training provided by TradeAID a single community may be able to make many more than just the one style of basket. Therefore, their business should now be more diverse in terms of products and so they should be able to find more success as well.

As well as Product Diversification training, we also provide Business skills training. This can include things like record keeping, marketing/advertising, customer service, etc. The aim, once again, is that through education we can help people to learn effective business skills and so this will then enrich and nourish their businesses.

Another area we’re currently looking into are alternative dyes for the craftspeople, looking for dye which would be cheaper and more readily available. The current dye used is not without harmful side effects, and as such, we attempt to educate the basket weavers on these dangers and make them aware of precautions that can be taken to diminish these, by providing protective gear such as masks.

Overall, the Basket Weavers and Market Support Service is a sprawling project with big aims and high aspirations. Thus, it can be seen as one of TradeAID’s most vital projects in terms of achieving the aims of “making trade work for the poor” which is our slogan and surely our most fundamental belief.

The Problem

Mass production

The Solution

Hamimi Design by brother and sister Rebecca and Alex works with a team of local artisans in Morocco to fuse the old and new of Marrakesh culture. Hamimi’s partnership with these female artisans is honouring traditional craftsmanship and aims to create a brighter future for themselves and their families. 

Making our products gives these women the opportunity to extend their skills and the potential to generate much-needed additional income. The benefits are clearly much more than just financial, as their sense of purpose, hope for the future, and connection to a bigger world has also grown. As the demand for our crocheted lights has grown, we have been able to train more women so that the benefits to the community reach even further.

Problem

Refugees often live in ‘hotspots’ where the effects of climate change and conflict coalesce. In these contexts, the impacts of a warming planet can both be the cause of displacement and make living conditions of those already displaced more difficult by exacerbating issues like water shortage and food scarcity.

Solution

With the motto “A Stitch Against Waste. A Stitch For Freedom.”, Silaiwali’s handmade doll collection addresses some of the world’s most pressing issues – waste from the textile industry and the livelihood of the displaced individuals. As a social enterprise based in New Delhi, India, Silaiwali takes production waste from the city’s garment factories as raw materials and employs Afghan refugee women to hand sew each character together with skilful needlework techniques including hand embroidery and fine finishing.

Iris Strill and Bishwadeep Moitra had worked with women refugees and rural Indian craftswomen before. They were taken aback by the amount of cotton fabrics being thrown away as waste from garment factories. The creation of Silaiwali is, therefore, to help ensure fair employment for women from different walks of life in India and find a new life for the waste materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

The Problem

Basket weavers are usually forced to sell their products to middlemen for a pittance, who go on to sell their goods to shops for a profit for themselves.

The Solution

Our support service eliminates that middleman, buying directly from the artisans and providing them with a fair price for their work. Another part of this is that we also provide straw to the communities, in what we call, a Straw Bank. Straw can be expensive for the communities to buy from the market themselves. So what TradeAID does is buy the straw in bulk at opportune times when the price is lower and then it sells it to the communities for a cheaper price.

By providing orders to the basket weavers from the international market, we are able to provide fair prices which will allow them to make a livelihood from their work, which they put so much time, skill and effort into. As a Fair Trade organization, this is crucial to our aims.

We also aim to improve the skills of the craft communities, providing training to help them diversify their products, as well as providing training that enables them to improve their business and marketing skills. For instance, before TradeAID arrived it was the case that many of the communities would only be able to do one kind of basket. However, now, due to the product diversification training provided by TradeAID a single community may be able to make many more than just the one style of basket. Therefore, their business should now be more diverse in terms of products and so they should be able to find more success as well.

As well as Product Diversification training, we also provide Business skills training. This can include things like record keeping, marketing/advertising, customer service, etc. The aim, once again, is that through education we can help people to learn effective business skills and so this will then enrich and nourish their businesses.

Another area we’re currently looking into are alternative dyes for the craftspeople, looking for dye that would be cheaper and more readily available. The current dye used is not without harmful side effects, and as such, we attempt to educate the basket weavers on these dangers and make them aware of precautions that can be taken to diminish these, by providing protective gear such as masks.

Overall, the Basket Weavers and Market Support Service is a sprawling project with big aims and high aspirations. Thus, it can be seen as one of TradeAID’s most vital projects in terms of achieving the aims of “making trade work for the poor” which is our slogan and surely our most fundamental belief.

The Problem
Deforestation is a global phenomenon caused by a variety of factors. These factors range from large-scale slash and burn practices to unsustainable agriculture to daily community forest destruction.

The regions most impacted by deforestation are highly poverty-stricken and underdeveloped areas. With few options to support their families, often members of impoverished communities are forced to destroy their local environment to survive, such as cutting down trees for construction, fuel, heat, and agricultural purposes. While this solves a short-term problem, long-term consequences arise when forests are cut down and not restored. The impact of deforestation is dramatic because it causes severe flooding, erosion, and desertification. The long-term effects of deforestation lead to even worse environmental devastation.

The Solution
There are two key elements to successful reforestation. The first element is that reforestation must present a benefit to the local population. Due to the unsustainable relationship between the land and people, communities suffering from deforestation are often the same as those living in extreme poverty. It is essential to be committed to and work alongside local villages and communities to achieve a successful and longstanding reforestation effort. Eden Reforestation Projects utilizes its Employ to Plant methodology to benefit members in the local communities where we plant. Through steady employment, people living in extreme poverty can begin to afford daily necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.

The second critical element rests in funding. Without donors, business partners, and grants, there is little hope for successful and impactful reforestation.

Problem

Refugees often live in ‘hotspots’ where the effects of climate change and conflict coalesce. In these contexts, the impacts of a warming planet can both be the cause of displacement and make living conditions of those already displaced more difficult by exacerbating issues like water shortage and food scarcity.

Solution

With the motto “A Stitch Against Waste. A Stitch For Freedom.”, Silaiwali’s handmade doll collection addresses some of the world’s most pressing issues – waste from the textile industry and the livelihood of the displaced individuals. As a social enterprise based in New Delhi, India, Silaiwali takes production waste from the city’s garment factories as raw materials and employs Afghan refugee women to hand sew each character together with skilful needlework techniques including hand embroidery and fine finishing.

Iris Strill and Bishwadeep Moitra had worked with women refugees and rural Indian craftswomen before. They were taken aback by the amount of cotton fabrics being thrown away as waste from garment factories. The creation of Silaiwali is, therefore, to help ensure fair employment for women from different walks of life in India and find a new life for the waste materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

Problem

Refugees often live in ‘hotspots’ where the effects of climate change and conflict coalesce. In these contexts, the impacts of a warming planet can both be the cause of displacement and make living conditions of those already displaced more difficult by exacerbating issues like water shortage and food scarcity.

Solution

With the motto “A Stitch Against Waste. A Stitch For Freedom.”, Silaiwali’s handmade doll collection addresses some of the world’s most pressing issues – waste from the textile industry and the livelihood of the displaced individuals. As a social enterprise based in New Delhi, India, Silaiwali takes production waste from the city’s garment factories as raw materials and employs Afghan refugee women to hand sew each character together with skilful needlework techniques including hand embroidery and fine finishing.

Iris Strill and Bishwadeep Moitra had worked with women refugees and rural Indian craftswomen before. They were taken aback by the amount of cotton fabrics being thrown away as waste from garment factories. The creation of Silaiwali is, therefore, to help ensure fair employment for women from different walks of life in India and find a new life for the waste materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

Problem

Refugees often live in ‘hotspots’ where the effects of climate change and conflict coalesce. In these contexts, the impacts of a warming planet can both be the cause of displacement and make living conditions of those already displaced more difficult by exacerbating issues like water shortage and food scarcity.

Solution

With the motto “A Stitch Against Waste. A Stitch For Freedom.”, Silaiwali’s handmade doll collection addresses some of the world’s most pressing issues – waste from the textile industry and the livelihood of the displaced individuals. As a social enterprise based in New Delhi, India, Silaiwali takes production waste from the city’s garment factories as raw materials and employs Afghan refugee women to hand sew each character together with skilful needlework techniques including hand embroidery and fine finishing.

Iris Strill and Bishwadeep Moitra had worked with women refugees and rural Indian craftswomen before. They were taken aback by the amount of cotton fabrics being thrown away as waste from garment factories. The creation of Silaiwali is, therefore, to help ensure fair employment for women from different walks of life in India and find a new life for the waste materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.