Collaborating with an Advocacy NGO: Oxfam Is a Major Non-Governmental Organization in Trade Policy Debates. It Also Has a Role in Local Trade Development. What Kind of Collaboration Is Possible with an Advocacy NGO? Natalie Domeisen and Peter Hulm of Trade Forum Spoke to Online Charveriat, Head of Oxfam's Trade Office in Geneva

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Q Oxfam's campaigning for fairer trade rules and your emergency work are well known. But you are also heavily involved in ground-level work on trade and business development. What are these activities?

A The purpose of our programmes on the ground is to help vulnerable and poor people build more sustainable livelihoods. For instance, we work directly with small farmers' coffee cooperatives in the developing world. Through funding and training, we help raise capacity to access markets on better terms. As part of these activities we consider fair trade products as a very important tool for cooperatives to differentiate their products and improve quality, as well as to understand marketing and how the supply chain works.

Q What major challenges do you face?

A We are currently reviewing our "five-year plan". There is growing demand for us to go further in helping developing countries with trade policy at the national policy level. …