In Yaou, a village located two hours from Aboisso, Assiata Sawadogo, a mother of two and the wife of a coffee farmer, embodies the transformative potential of women within coffee-growing communities.
As President of the village’s AVEC 1group, Assiata has benefited from NESCAFÉ Plan training in entrepreneurship, advocacy and literacy. These skills have enabled her to successfully develop activities focused on producing and marketing red palm oil and handmade soap.
Every week, she meets her fellows of AVEC for their savings meeting. Through this community-based savings and credit scheme, women can access loans to expand their income-generating activities.
Today, together with other women in the group, she helps generate between XOF 200,000 and XOF 300,000 per week, thereby contributing to improved living conditions for their families.
The spirit of mutual support that drives the AVEC groups extends far beyond savings. The women have also established solidarity groups to support their households’ coffee production. Taking turns, they come together to help harvest coffee on their husbands’ farms. This collective approach accelerates harvesting, eases labour constraints and strengthens bonds of solidarity throughout the community.
In parallel, the women of the AVEC collectively cultivate more than two hectares of plantain for commercial sale, creating an additional source of income for the group.
For Assiata, this collective momentum represents far more than financial support. It has become a catalyst for women’s independence, confidence and leadership across the village.
Like her, more than 1,000 women from coffee-growing communities supported by the NESCAFÉ Plan are strengthening their skills through AVEC groups, developing their businesses and actively contributing to the prosperity of their families and the coffee sector.
In Yaou, Assiata’s story demonstrates that when women are given the means to take action, the entire community moves forward.
