Fairtrade Cocoa Production and Gender in Ghana: A Participatory Video Approach

This project critically explores the role of women in Fairtrade organizations and communities, and the obstacles they face in participating in Fairtrade value chains. Focusing on Fairtrade cocoa production in Ghana, the research employs participatory video – an innovative methodology increasingly used in community development and anthropological research – to undertake a more nuanced analysis of the Fairtrade network, focusing on questions of where the benefits are flowing within its structures, who is being reached, and how this may have gendered impacts on addressing poverty and powerlessness. In doing so, the project aims to understand how Fairtrade certification may have wider impacts beyond women’s farming activities, how it may affect women's decision-making power in their households, and how this may (or may not) play a role in re-negotiating the gender identities of men and women. The qualitative video material generated will inform key academic and policy debates on gender and Fairtrade, but will also be disseminated to a range of stakeholders within the Fairtrade system.

This project critically explores the role of women in Fairtrade organizations and communities, and the obstacles they face in participating in Fairtrade value chains. Focusing on Fairtrade cocoa production in Ghana, the research employs participatory video – an innovative methodology increasingly used in community development and anthropological research – to undertake a more nuanced analysis of the Fairtrade network, focusing on questions of where the benefits are flowing within its structures, who is being reached, and how this may have gendered impacts on addressing poverty and powerlessness. In doing so, the project aims to understand how Fairtrade certification may have wider impacts beyond women’s farming activities, how it may affect women's decision-making power in their households, and how this may (or may not) play a role in re-negotiating the gender identities of men and women. The qualitative video material generated will inform key academic and policy debates on gender and Fairtrade, but will also be disseminated to a range of stakeholders within the Fairtrade system.