You’ll hear stories from individuals who fight inequality and against the odds, are entrepreneurs and leaders in their local communities.

Speakers include Jenipher Wettaka Sambazi from the Mt Elgon Coffee Co-operative in Uganda, Rosine Bekoin, cocoa producer at farming co-operative CAYAT, Hannah Pudner, Director of External Affairs at United Purpose, Chisomo Phiri, women’s rights activist and Katie Colvin, Head of Marketing and Communications at Cru Kafe.

We’ll be showing an animation to bring the stories of women cocoa farmers to life to show that through Fairtrade, there is an alternative.

Fairtrade refreshments and snacks provided.

As a mother of six, Jenipher might not have been able to afford to send all herchildren to school if it wasn’t for Fairtrade. However, because she became a member of the Fairtrade Co-operative, Jeniper has been able to take control of her family’s lives and her farming, receiving a fair and just price for her coffee beans. Fairtrade’s social premium has also been used for a variety of projects in her local community, from water storage to extra classrooms for schools. She is deputy chair of MEACCE, Mt Elgon Agroforestry Coffee Community Enterprise.

Rosine runs a 2.5-hectare farmand is a member of CAYAT cocoa co-operative in Côte d’Ivoire. She also found the training on women’s rights as part of the Women’s School of Leadership transformed her entire outlook on life, and has seen her advocate for other women ever since. Now, through her role as secretary of the women’s society, Rosine is helping more than 400 women who are collectively investing their Fairtrade Premium in income diversification projects, such as a communal vegetable garden.

Hannah has an extensive background in political campaigning, policy and communications. She joined United Purpose after 15 years of working in the higher education sector, most recently as Assistant Director (External Strategy) at the Open University Wales, and before then as Director of NUS Wales, and previously as a senior policy advisor to the UK Government. Her remit covers global communications, partnerships and fundraising. She is from Neath and now lives in Cardiff.

Chisomo Phiri, women’s rights activist and campaigner

Chisomo Phiri (also known as Chizi) was the first black female President at Swansea Students’ Union. She was then Women’s Officer at the National Union of Students Wales, where she campaigned to end sexual harassment and violence against women and girls. Chizi ran also ran a national campaign to end period poverty in Wales, which resulted in the Welsh Government pledging £2.3 million for free sanitary products for those in education.

This campaign resulted in Chizi being voted Chwarae Teg’s People’s Choice winner 2019. Chizi is a well known activist and campaigner Wales, however now she works in Bristol as Campaign Executive at Seeker Digital. Her passion for women’s rights and equality is very much still alive and she uses her platform to speak up on these issues.

Katie Colvin, Head of Marketing and Communications at Cru Kafe

Katie has been part of the CRU Kafe team for nearly 4 years and now heads up their multichannel Marketing and Communications. Katie has had a lifelong passion for coffee with feminism and sustainability at the forefront of her passion. She has pitched and then overseen the launch of compostable coffee products on British Airways and has been on trips to coffee farms all over the globe.

She has seen first hand the impact of Fairtrade on women and is an advocate for change in what is a very saturated market. Katie believes CRU Kafe can brew their way to a better world by innovating and working with partners and charities that ensure the supply chain is completely transparent.

Julia Nicoara, Director of Public Engagement, Fairtrade Foundation will chair the event, introduce the She Deserves Fairtrade campaign and how Fairtrade is working to empower female cocoa farmers.

About the She Deserves Campaign

Fairtrade’s She Deserves campaign which is running again this Fairtrade Fortnight (24 February-8 March 2020) highlights research on ‘invisible women’ in the cocoa sector in West Africa, where 60% of the world’s cocoa is grown, when we revealed the average farmer lives on a little as 74p a day.
In Côte d’Ivoire, despite carrying out 68% of the labour and being responsible for children and the home, women have fewer rights than men and earn even less.In coffee, there is a similar story, with around 125 million people worldwide dependent on it for their livelihoods, Jenipher is one of them.

It is the most valuable and widely traded tropical agricultural product and is mainly produced by smallholder farmers. Many of them however are unable to earn a reliable living from the coffee they produce. It isn’t enough to support the most basic needs such as fresh water and food, education and healthcare.

This Fairtrade Fortnight, campaigners are sharing stories far and wide so we are all better equipped to make choices that can change farmers’ stories for the better.

For #SheDeserves we’ll be continuing to focus on the special role women farmers play in the journey to living incomes, and sharing new stories and tools to get more people choosing Fairtrade.