Established in 1986, Traidcraft Exchange works to enable poor producers in Africa and Asia to grow their businesses, find markets, and engage effectively in trade.
We passionately believe that trade can provide opportunities for people to work their way out of poverty.
We are currently managing 14 major projects with a total value of about £5.5 million. These projects are directly benefiting 350,000 people with a further 1.4 million indirectly benefiting.
Three interlinked areas of work
At Traidcraft Exchange we take a three-pronged approach to making trade work for the poor:
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Trade
We identify the problems that prevent the poor benefiting from trade, and work to overcome these. This might involve helping producers and buyers to find and work with one another, or enabling producers to understand the demands of different markets and what they need to do to access them.
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Support
We identify the services that small businesses need to enable them to trade effectively, and build the capacity of local service providers to provide these services on an affordable basis.
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Influence
We undertake lobbying and advocacy activities to campaign for trade policies that help rather than hurt the poor. And we help poor producers to understand the rules that restrict how they trade and encourage them to speak up for their rights.
We are committed to working in collaboration with other organisations, both in the countries in which we work and internationally, who share our vision of a world freed from the scandal of poverty, where trade is just and people and communities can flourish.
Our expertise
We are the only international development charity in the UK focusing exclusively on trade and are seen as pioneers in this field. We have over 20 years’ experience of managing and implementing large trade-focused projects across Africa and Asia, and are also widely known and respected for our trade-related policy and advocacy work in the UK and Europe.
Our development work pulls together three teams of experts:
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Our International Development Department coordinates our overseas programmes and is staffed by development experts with a strong track record of project management.
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Our Market Access Centre provides trade-related training and consultancy services, staffed by experts with extensive experience in business development and marketing.
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Our London-based Policy Unit is staffed by trade policy experts who have made great strides in recent years in raising awareness of how global trade policies affect the poor and lobbying for change on their behalf.
How the charity is funded
Traidcraft Exchange is not funded by Traidcraft's trading activities. The trading company profits are generated primarily to allow us to grow the benefits to our producers. This limits the amount available for donations. Even if the trading company's profits were passed on, this would fund only part of the charity's expenditure.
Support our work - make a donation
The charity relies upon funding from the donations of thousands of individuals, combined with major grants from trusts and governmental organisations to support our overseas development work.
Make a donation and help to ensure that Traidcraft Exchange’s vital work in the developing world continues.
