"When I started working when I inherited the field from my uncle, it was really not easy,” Assata says. “Even the family and the community in which I lived looked after me because [it was thought that] a woman cannot master the challenge at any time.”

But today, Assata even leads the ECAM cooperative with 2,300 producers as chairwoman and actively advocates for the women in their industry. “We have shown that we can make it as women. So I feel happy,” she says. Many will have tried the cocoa from Assata's cooperative before: their cocoa beans are in Fairtrade chocolate.

Agriculture in times of climate change

Assata started in 2003, when she inherited a field from her uncle. Since then, she has been growing cocoa and is an employer for several workers who harvest the valuable cocoa beans with machetes on the farm every day.

What does Assata see as her biggest challenge? “Having very good production on a very small area." Assata is working on agroforestry, which is a sustainable cultivation method that enables small farmers like Assata to grow other products in addition to cocoa even on a small plot of land.

Agroforestry is becoming increasingly important in times of climate change, as weather patterns are changing, soil fertility is declining, and pests and diseases are decimating crops. Farmers are adopting agroforestry to increase the food security of their families by growing other ground crops like cassava, or fruit trees that also provide beneficial shade to cocoa plants. More biodiversity also improves the soil quality and supports pollinators and other animals.

Without a doubt, climate change and the associated changes for people and the environment is the biggest challenge in agriculture. Assata also reports that people in Côte d’Ivoire are already suffering from the consequences of climate change.

“In early 2017, we had a large drought on our farms, where we lost almost half of our production," she recounts. The difficulties refer to cocoa cultivation, but also to the cultivation of vegetables, which are a staple of farmers' own diets. “We are forced to buy expensive food in the shops in the city,” Assata says.

The price of a good life as a cocoa producer

One of the most important topics for cocoa producers is the cocoa price. This is negotiated on the commodity exchanges of the world market – far from the people who toiled on the farms to grow and harvest the cocoa. Due to the large price fluctuations and the associated risk for farmers' incomes, the two most important countries of cocoa production, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, set the price for cocoa. This is redefined twice a year. “We are grateful for all the efforts the government has, and we want to accompany it so that the income remains stable,” says Assata.

If the price set by the governments is below the Fairtrade Minimum Price, Fairtrade requires traders to pay the cooperatives the difference when they buy cocoa on Fairtrade terms. However, more must happen to make a good life possible for the producers and workers in the cocoa industry. Currently, cooperatives can only sell about one-third of their members' cocoa on Fairtrade terms. The rest of their harvest is sold on the conventional market. To change this, the demand for Fairtrade chocolate must continue to grow.

Fairtrade Premium enables joint projects

What more would Assata do? “We need to improve our way of working. We have been working with machetes, dabas and similar devices for a long time. We would like to have devices that make our hard work easier,” she says.

The Fairtrade Premium -- the extra sum of money paid to cooperatives on top of the selling price for each Fairtrade sale -- is invested according to democratic decision-making by the cooperative. For instance, thanks to Premium funds, the cooperative has built schools in the community and improved roads to facilitate transportation between the farms and the cooperative.

Fairtrade's support for thriving cocoa farmers

With all the challenges facing cocoa farmers, leaders like Assata can rely on Fairtrade. The Fairtrade West Africa Cocoa Programme, delivered by Fairtrade Africa, provides trainings and technical support to farmers, for topics from climate-resilient farming practices, to protecting child rights, to data management, to setting up village savings and loan programmes. The Fairtrade Women's School of Leadership, and now also the Young Cooperative Managers Academy, offer opportunities for women and young people to develop their skills as farmers and leaders. Fairtrade is also providing support to cocoa cooperatives to meet the requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation so they can continue selling their cocoa to European businesses.

Assata's cooperative benefits from these programmes, as she continues to build the future for herself and her community.