Empowering Women and Youth

Cultivating Change: Empowering Female Farmers Through Crop Diversification and Value Addition in Côte d'Ivoire

Location: Côte d'Ivoire

Timeline: March 2026 to July 2027

Participants: 180 women

Partners: RICE (Reseau Ivoirien du Commerce Equitable)

Summary: The project will support the production of cassava for 180 women across six women’s cooperatives, as well as strengthen their skills to operate as independent farmers and establish market opportunities to increase income.

Image: A farmer holds a cassava.

Growing Fairer Futures: Improving cocoa production for smallholder cocoa farmers in Peru

Location: Pangoa, Satipo, Junin, Peru

Timeline: January 2026 to April 2027

Participants: 100 cocoa farmers (84% women and youth)

Partners: Cooperativa Agrária de Jovenes Pangoa

Summary: This project will support 100 cocoa farmers to access agricultural training, regenerate cocoa farms, produce organic compost and receive inputs to increase cocoa yield, income and financial resilience. 

Image: Split cocoa pods.

Soilless Vegetable Farming: Burkina Faso (Phase Four)

Location: Burkina Faso

Timeline: November 2025 to February 2027

Participants: 100 women with disabilities

Partners: RICE (Reseau Ivoirien du Commerce Equitable)

Summary: The most recent phase of this project reduced the poverty levels of 75 women with disabilities. Following the success of the project, the foundation is working with PNCE-B on its fourth phase. Three additional greenhouses will be added to improve production capacity, whilst participants will receive vegetable processing equipment. 

Image: A participant of our Soilless Farming project in Burkina Faso tends to onions growing in clay beds.

GROWING FAIRER FUTURES: Beekeeping integration in Côte d'Ivoire

Location: Côte d'Ivoire

Timeline: September 2025 to February 2027

Participants: 150 young cocoa farmers

Partners: Réseau Ivoirien du Commerce Equitable (RICE) and cocoa co-operative CAYAT

Project Details: This 18-month project, funded by The Chocolonely Foundation, aims to integrate beekeeping into cocoa production, offering a new economic opportunity for 150 young cocoa farmers and support to increase the resilience of their cocoa farms.

Image: A CAYAT Field Technician places a beehive among cocoa trees with guidance from technical expert, Holly Honey.

Crafting Fairer Futures: Improving livelihoods of artisans through sustainable and eco-friendly handcraft production

Location: Western Uganda

Timeline: May 2025 to August 2026

Partners: Rwenzori Sustainable Trade Centre (RSTC)

Project Details: Launched in May 2025, this project will empower 200 artisans (80% women and youth) from four craft associations by enhancing their livelihoods through the sustainable use of banana fibre as an alternative eco-friendly production material.

Image: Participants following training delivered in fibre extraction and weaving.

Empowering women through vegetable cultivation in Nicaragua

Location: Nicaragua

Date: April 2025 – March 2026

Partners: Cooperative de servicios multiples sacaclí R.L. (Sacaclí)

Project Details: This project is supporting 40 women producers to produce cherry tomatoes and chilli peppers for additional income.

Image: Sacaclí producers with cultivated vegetables.

GROWING FAIRER FUTURES: Improving cocoa production in Côte d'Ivoire

Location: Côte d'Ivoire

Timeline: January 2020 to November 2025

Participants: 50 young cocoa farmers

Partners: CAYAT

Project Details: As part of this project, 50 young cocoa farmers are receiving essential farm inputs, equipment, guidance and training that will enable them to improve their cocoa production, secure stronger incomes and build a brighter future for themselves.

Image: Anita Akkafou, project participant

Soilless Vegetable Farming: Burkina Faso (Phase Three)

This 13-month project aimed to reduce poverty levels of economically vulnerable women with disabilities in Burkina Faso through establishing a sustainable, organic vegetable production enterprise. This farming method is ideal for people with physical disabilities since technology integration makes it less labour-intensive than conventional farming.

Location: Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Timeline: August 2024 to September 2025

Participants: 75 women with disabilities

Partners: GAFREH; Platforme Nationale du Commerce Equitable Burkina Faso (PNCE-B)

Image: Participants of our soilless farming project in Burkina Faso.

Soilless Farming: Burkina Faso

Location: Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Timeline: September 2022 to August 2025

Participants: 305 women (including 75 women with physical disabilities)

Partners: Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission; Groupe d’Action des Femmes pour la Relance Economique du Houet (GAFREH); Platforme Nationale du Commerce Equitable Burkina Faso (PNCE-B);  Association Fraternité des Personnes Handicapées Physique de Bobo (AFPHPB)

Summary: This project aimed to reduce the poverty levels of economically vulnerable women in Burkina Faso through establishing a sustainable, organic vegetable production enterprise.

This project encompasses multiple extensions of our pilot which concluded in 2023.

Image: Khadidja Traore, project participant, holds peppers grown using soilless farming techniques.

Improving the resilience of young coffee farmers through the production and sale of dehydrated coffee pulp

Location: Apurimac region, Southern Highlands of Peru

Timeline: July 2024 to June 2025

Participants: 58 young coffee farmers

Partners: Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle de Incahuasi (CACVI)

Image: Coffee drying tables constructed as part of the project, against the backdrop of the Peruvian highlands.

Summary: This project will increase the economic income for 58 young coffee farmers located across 11 zonal committees in the district of Inkawasi. 

Through the provision of training and equipment, the young farmers will produce dehydrated coffee pulp from the by-product of their coffee production therefore reducing the waste generated by coffee production and increasing their income.

Image: A project participant spreads coffee beans across a coffee drying table, which CACVI members referred to as African drying beds.

Stronger with Solar: Burkina Faso

Location: Dakoro, Burkina Faso

Timeline: November 2022 to October 2023

Participants: 50 women beekeepers

Partners: Platforme Nationale du Commerce Equitable Burkina Faso (PNCE-B) 

Summary: In Burkina Faso, we continued supporting the Benkadi de Dakoro women’s group, which initially participated in our Bees for Business project in 2018. 

During this project, we installed solar panels to enable the group to process honey after dark when the bees are less active. This not only marked the community’s first access to electricity but also empowered the group to significantly increase their honey processing capacity and boost their income.

Growing Fairer Futures: Rwanda

Location: Western Rwanda

Timeline: March 2021 to October 2023

Participants: 193 young coffee farmers

Partners: KOPAKAMA

Project Details: In Rwanda, we worked in partnership with coffee co-operative KOPAKAMA to support 193 young coffee farmers. 

Each participant underwent training to improve their farm management skills, bolster climate resilience and enable them to operate their businesses profitably.

Soilless Vegetable Farming: Ghana

Location: Ghana

Timeline: February 2021 to January 2023

Participants: 60 women basketweavers

Partners: TradeAID Integrated

Summary: This project provided support to 60 economically vulnerable basket weavers to establish a soilless farming enterprise. This led to the creation of six farms, each equipped with drip irrigation watering systems. Participants underwent training in soilless farming techniques, agri-business, rural entrepreneurship and nutritional education.

Image: Atule Azeyoke holds harvested vegetables grown using soilless farming methods.