In Ghana, Dora Atiiga is one of those farmers. Alongside tending cocoa trees, she has created something remarkable: a community school that began with just six children in her living room. Today her school, M&D Quality Education Complex, provides care and early learning to the children in Kukuom, Ghana. What started as a simple solution to a local challenge has grown into a space of opportunity.

In 2021, Atiiga applied for a spot in the Women’s School of Leadership, a ten-month programme designed to equip farmers with self-confidence, financial management, cooperation, and negotiation skills.

And while she didn’t know what to expect “it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she said.

In cocoa communities across West Africa, women are central to the work on farms, handling everything from weeding to harvesting, but they often have limited access to land, credit, and training. Despite doing nearly half the work, they are rarely seen in leadership roles or decision-making spaces. The Women School of Leadership, developed by Fairtrade Africa, was created to help shift that imbalance. Through the programme, Dora began to look at her surroundings differently, and it didn’t take long for her to identify a challenge that had long gone unnoticed.

Many parents in her community had no safe place to leave their young children while they worked on cocoa farms. As a result, they brought the children along to the farms, not by choice, but because there were no other options. Dora saw the risk with her own eyes and chose to create something. “I just started small,” she said. “Six children. I taught them in my house.”

She made space in her own home, setting up a simple but welcoming classroom. At the time, she was juggling many roles: caring for her three daughters, teaching the children, cooking meals, helping with the farm, and slowly shaping a vision for what the school could become.

As word spread, more families began bringing their children. What started with just six children grew rapidly, and Dora soon found herself teaching and caring for 49 children. To meet the growing demand, she hired another teacher and officially registered the school as M&D Quality Education Complex. Today, the school welcomes around 150 children, ranging in age from 2 to 10 years old. It has six classrooms and seven teachers, all working together to shape the future of these young learners. The classrooms are modest, but the atmosphere is lively and warm. Here, children learn essential skills like reading, writing, and mathematics, but more importantly, they find a safe and supportive space.

The journey doesn’t come without its challenges. Dora works hard to balance running  her family’s cocoa farm, managing the school, and participating in cooperative work. “Sometimes, I feel tired. There are days when it’s a lot,” she admitted. “But each morning, when I wake up, I’m motivated to keep going.”

Her husband is one of her biggest supporters. “He believes in what I’m doing,” she said.

Dora Atiiga’s story is just one example, but it speaks to something larger - challenges and opportunities within the cocoa industry and how women can make a difference.