Invisible No Longer
A professor of women’s studies/is speaking to high school students/about chocolate and the country/where much of it is produced,/Côte d’Ivoire.
Good morning. Today, I would like to discuss with you/something related to this (showing chocolate).
Chocolate is one of our favorite foods,/right? Japan has some of the biggest chocolate companies in the world,/and you each eat around two kilos of chocolate a year.
When we talk about sweets,/we think about taste, price, and nutritional value. But today/I’d like you to take a moment to ask:/“Where does chocolate actually come from? Do chocolate farmers make decent wages? Are their work conditions safe?”
Chocolate is made from cacao beans. Almost 40 percent of the world’s cacao beans/are produced in Côte d’Ivoire,/which is, in fact,/the world’s largest producer. Now,/look at the map on the wall. Can you find Côte d’Ivoire?
The work on cacao farms is dangerous. Women do most of the work,/yet they make very little money. One woman farmer says,/“Women do everything,/right until the cacao dries. But the men take it,/sell it,/and never take us women into account.”
Today,/I’d like to talk to you/about these women farmers. Some people call them/the “invisible women”/at the heart of the chocolate industry.
One woman/on a cacao farm in Côte d’Ivoire/describes her typical day. She gets up at 4 a.m./and walks two kilometers to get water/before making breakfast,/cleaning the yard,/and preparing the children for school. Then she walks several kilometers to the field to work,/with her youngest baby strapped to her back/and sometimes with a toddler in tow. Cacao beans grow in pods/about the size of a football,/which she harvests from trees/using a knife attached to a long pole. In the evening,/she returns home,/carrying a heavy basket of cacao pods/on her head,/only to find more work waiting for her.
Women do about 70 percent/of the work on the farms/but receive only about 20 percent/of the income. They must also do all the housework. This unfairness/is due to the country’s patriarchal society,/where men hold power/and make most decisions. Women have no say/about selling the cacao beans,/and their husbands don’t share the money. Women don’t have access to training or financial aid/which could help them lead a better life. There is a very large gender gap.
Needless to say,/this gender gap must be closed. But how?
In 2017,/Fairtrade UK started a school called/the Women’s School of Leadership/in Côte d’Ivoire. The school has transformed the students’ lives/by teaching confidence,/money management,/sustainable farming practices,/and women’s rights.
Two of the graduates of the leadership school,/Edith and Rosine,/speak about their transformation.
Edith: “Fairtrade training taught us/how to talk to our husbands/and make common decisions. In the past,/our husbands sold the beans/and didn’t show us the money. Now we know/how to negotiate with our husbands. We work together,/exchange opinions,/and share tasks. We support each other/to share our problems/and find a way through to a solution together. We feel empowered.”
Rosine: “Now/my husband and I make a budget together/and I’m afraid of nothing/because I know how to manage my money. I am stronger.”
The school is open not only to women/but also to men. A male graduate says,/“Previously men denied women’s rights,/but after training we realized/women needed to make decisions too.” Now he helps his wife cook and clean. Some people make fun of him,/but he doesn’t care. He says,/“My wife and I now live in peace.”
If they are to achieve gender equality,/women must work to help themselves. Graduates of the school/are beginning to share their knowledge and training/with other women in the community. Some women have started small businesses/growing vegetables to protect their families/from unstable cacao prices. Rosine and Yaoua,/both graduates of the school,/lead a women’s society/to help girls get an education. Yaoua says,/“Women don’t have to be behind men. We are worthy too.”
The project/to help the invisible women farmers of Côte d’Ivoire/has gone global. In Latin America,/Fairtrade opened leadership schools/in Guatemala and El Salvador. In Asia,/Fairtrade also opened schools/in Indonesia and India in 2019. The goal is to promote empowerment/and raise awareness of human rights.
I began by asking you/to think about where chocolate comes from. Then we listened/to the voices of the invisible women cacao farmers/in Côte d’Ivoire. That led to the question/of how to overcome the gender gap.
Now,/let’s think about our own lives and societies. How much have we accomplished/and how much more do we have to do/in order to close our own gender gap?
A professor of women’s studies/is speaking to high school students/about chocolate and the country/where much of it is produced,/Côte d’Ivoire.
Good morning. Today, I would like to discuss with you/something related to this (showing chocolate).
Chocolate is one of our favorite foods,/right? Japan has some of the biggest chocolate companies in the world,/and you each eat around two kilos of chocolate a year.
When we talk about sweets,/we think about taste, price, and nutritional value. But today/I’d like you to take a moment to ask:/“Where does chocolate actually come from? Do chocolate farmers make decent wages? Are their work conditions safe?”
Chocolate is made from cacao beans. Almost 40 percent of the world’s cacao beans/are produced in Côte d’Ivoire,/which is, in fact,/the world’s largest producer. Now,/look at the map on the wall. Can you find Côte d’Ivoire?
The work on cacao farms is dangerous. Women do most of the work,/yet they make very little money. One woman farmer says,/“Women do everything,/right until the cacao dries. But the men take it,/sell it,/and never take us women into account.”
Today,/I’d like to talk to you/about these women farmers. Some people call them/the “invisible women”/at the heart of the chocolate industry.
One woman/on a cacao farm in Côte d’Ivoire/describes her typical day. She gets up at 4 a.m./and walks two kilometers to get water/before making breakfast,/cleaning the yard,/and preparing the children for school. Then she walks several kilometers to the field to work,/with her youngest baby strapped to her back/and sometimes with a toddler in tow. Cacao beans grow in pods/about the size of a football,/which she harvests from trees/using a knife attached to a long pole. In the evening,/she returns home,/carrying a heavy basket of cacao pods/on her head,/only to find more work waiting for her.
Women do about 70 percent/of the work on the farms/but receive only about 20 percent/of the income. They must also do all the housework. This unfairness/is due to the country’s patriarchal society,/where men hold power/and make most decisions. Women have no say/about selling the cacao beans,/and their husbands don’t share the money. Women don’t have access to training or financial aid/which could help them lead a better life. There is a very large gender gap.
Needless to say,/this gender gap must be closed. But how?
In 2017,/Fairtrade UK started a school called/the Women’s School of Leadership/in Côte d’Ivoire. The school has transformed the students’ lives/by teaching confidence,/money management,/sustainable farming practices,/and women’s rights.
Two of the graduates of the leadership school,/Edith and Rosine,/speak about their transformation.
Edith: “Fairtrade training taught us/how to talk to our husbands/and make common decisions. In the past,/our husbands sold the beans/and didn’t show us the money. Now we know/how to negotiate with our husbands. We work together,/exchange opinions,/and share tasks. We support each other/to share our problems/and find a way through to a solution together. We feel empowered.”
Rosine: “Now/my husband and I make a budget together/and I’m afraid of nothing/because I know how to manage my money. I am stronger.”
The school is open not only to women/but also to men. A male graduate says,/“Previously men denied women’s rights,/but after training we realized/women needed to make decisions too.” Now he helps his wife cook and clean. Some people make fun of him,/but he doesn’t care. He says,/“My wife and I now live in peace.”
If they are to achieve gender equality,/women must work to help themselves. Graduates of the school/are beginning to share their knowledge and training/with other women in the community. Some women have started small businesses/growing vegetables to protect their families/from unstable cacao prices. Rosine and Yaoua,/both graduates of the school,/lead a women’s society/to help girls get an education. Yaoua says,/“Women don’t have to be behind men. We are worthy too.”
The project/to help the invisible women farmers of Côte d’Ivoire/has gone global. In Latin America,/Fairtrade opened leadership schools/in Guatemala and El Salvador. In Asia,/Fairtrade also opened schools/in Indonesia and India in 2019. The goal is to promote empowerment/and raise awareness of human rights.
I began by asking you/to think about where chocolate comes from. Then we listened/to the voices of the invisible women cacao farmers/in Côte d’Ivoire. That led to the question/of how to overcome the gender gap.
Now,/let’s think about our own lives and societies. How much have we accomplished/and how much more do we have to do/in order to close our own gender gap?