NOVEMBER 2018

WHAT IS CECAQ-11’S CO-OPERATIVE DIFFERENCE?
AL: We are fully transparent and democratic, and
everyone gets a say and a fair share of the profits.
We have annual meetings, and an open register
so every producer can check how much cocoa
they delivered and when, so they can match their
records to those of the co-op. The co-op has been
instrumental in enhancing working conditions,
as well as local infrastructure – it helps with
electricity supply and improving the access roads.
HP: We also have the Fairtrade premium – $200
per tonne of coca produced – that is used for
social infrastructure. One thing the premium has
been used for is a kindergarten for the producers’
children. The aim is to give education and have
the kids in a safe environment, while enabling the
parents to concentrate on working and producing
the best cocoa they can.
HOW IS THE CO-OP EMPOWERING WOMEN?
HP: There are issues around equal rights in São
Tomé and domestic abuse is a big problem, partly
because of a government initiative which divided
land between the farmers. This could have been
good, except they only handed out one land title
per married couple. The husbands are often bad at
sharing the income, even when they are both equally
working the land. This leads to a lot of conflict.
Luckily my husband Manuel is a good husband,
so we have not fought over land or income! In 2013
I took this problem to the government, and they
gave all the women we had gathered their own
land titles. Things are now better for those women,
but I still worry for those who could not join us.
We have a ladies association at the co-op to
make sure the women have the same rights as
men, that they work in the same way and have
the same say. There are women in important
positions, so the co-op is good at encouraging
women to more fully participate, but not all
of them want to, or think that they can. But
they are wrong. If more women got involved,
it would make sure more actually got done!
HOW ARE CO-OPS REGARDED IN SÃO TOMÉ?
AL: All the co-ops have had government support.
They have to register as a co-op. There are two cocoa
co-ops (the other cocoa co-op is about three times
the size of CECAQ-11, but it isn’t registered Fair
trade), and the island also has a spice co-op and a
coffee co-op, and lots of others not linked to
agriculture. There are only 200,000 people on the
islands – everyone knows what everyone else is
doing, so most people know about co-ops.
NOVEMBER 2018 | 23