Empowering Women and Youth

GROWING FAIRER FUTURES: Beekeeping integration in IVORY COAST

Location: Ivory Coast

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

GROWING FAIRER FUTURES: Improving cocoa production in IVORY COAST

Location: Ivory Coast

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 Farming in 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.