Fairtrade’s Women’s School of Leadership builds confidence, skills, and opportunity
Women play a central role in agricultural supply chains and that’s one of the reasons why the UN has declared 2026 the Year of the Woman Farmer. From planting and harvesting to sorting, processing, and trading, their work sustains households and cooperatives.
Despite this, women in agriculture operate within layers of constraint. This includes deeply rooted cultural norms that undermine their authority, gives them limited access to resources, and requires them to carry the heavy burden of the “triple role” - productive work, reproductive responsibilities, and community obligations. These overlapping realities keep many women at a disadvantage.
To help address these challenges, Fairtrade established the Women’s School of Leadership in 2017. Managed by producer network Fairtrade Africa, the programme works on three interconnected levels – the individual, the workplace (producer organisation), and the wider community - and offers training and mentorship on topics such as human rights, gender equality, self-confidence, financial management, cooperation, and negotiation skills.
Today, on International Women’s Day, the growing impact of the Women’s School of Leadership is evident. The programme, which began with 22 participants in cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire, has expanded to the tea, sugar, and the flower sectors in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi. In its nine years, the WSOL has reached over 34,000 people through direct and indirect engagement.
One example that illustrates this impact is 31-year-old flower farm worker Sharon Achieng’. Before joining the Women’s School of Leadership, Sharon never saw herself as a leader. She often doubted her abilities and avoided new opportunities at her workplace, Hanna Roses in Kenya. But after participating in the programme, Sharon began to believe in herself. When a quality controller position opened at Hanna Roses, she decided to apply. Although she didn’t succeed on her first attempt, she refused to give up. She tried again and was later promoted. “The Women’s School of Leadership helped me believe that I can lead and achieve anything I set my mind to,” she said. Sharon’s journey is emblematic of the transformative power of the Women’s School of Leadership. The programme is supporting many women to raise their voices in policy discussions within their producer organisations, step into committee and leadership positions, and lead income diversification initiatives. And while these shifts may appear gradual, they signal something deeper: a transformation in how women see themselves and how they are seen by others. For Fairtrade, true progress for women will come from cultivating environments where their leadership is normalised, where their contributions are recognised without hesitation, and where equality is reflected not only in words but in practice.
