The African fair trade symposium was aimed at facilitating exchanges and proposals for thinking through the position of Africa on the international stage on the ground of the fair trade principles and also at underlining the potential of inter-African trade (-South-South). It took place form the 28th till the 31st of March 2006 in Cotonou, Benin and gathered players of the fair trade in Africa, farmers’ organizations, craftspeople, local authorities, representatives of the private sector, aid institutions and researchers.

The discussion themes of the symposium were:
1.An evaluation of fair trade in Africa: identification and analysis of practices and players; evaluation of the impact of fair trade on sustainable local development
2.Fair trade, development and local governance
3.Fair trade in the context of Economic Partnership Agreements and regional integration processes
4.Fair Trade and international trade regulation.

The comprehensive report on trade and resolutions made during the Symposium is available on the RIPESS website http://www.ripess.net. The report was drafted by Maleye Diagne, who represented RIPESS at the meeting.