7 Mar 2020
Edith's story - Celebrate International Women's Day
In the run up to International Women’s Day on 8 March, we are featuring some of the countless inspiring women who work in Fairtrade farms and communities. Today, meet Edith, a leader and producer at the heart of a cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire.
Edith is a cocoa farmer in Côte d’Ivoire, and single parent to a 13-year-old son. Hoping for a bright future for him, she pours herself into his education, and is grateful that some of her cooperative’s Fairtrade Premium funds have been used to invest in improvements to the school her son attends.
“When we receive our part, we share it to construct schools to help other children go to school whose parents don’t have enough money and who would never have thought it possible to send them otherwise,” Edith says.
Not only the little ones are profiting from education. Since her cooperative became certified, Edith has also seen the awareness of women's rights increase.
“Fairtrade has helped me to understand my rights and my duties. We see that what men can do women can also do. Fairtrade taught me a lot. It has transformed me in a way.”
Fairtrade supports women to participate equally in agriculture, earn better wages and succeed on their own terms. Read more about Fairtrade's work on gender equality.