Ovidia Her daily life Ovidia gets up at 5 am and makes breakfast for her husband, Ovispo, and five grandchildren. She looks after the children, as their mother, her daughter, is working away from home and can’t take care of them. They have breakfast at 7am after which Ovispo goes to work in the cocoa farm half an hour's walk away. Ovidia spends the morning in the house, cooking, washing-up and cleaning. At midday she joins her husband at the farm bringing a picnic lunch of beans, meat and rice or spaghetti, for the two of them. Afterwards they work together weeding, pruning and sowing new trees. They harvest about twice a month.

Ovidia and Ovispo return home together at around five o’clock. Ovispo feeds the animals and they both prepare dinner. After washing and changing they eat with their grandchildren. To relax Ovidia watches soap operas and the news. On Saturday they attend the local farmers’ group meeting and on Sunday they go to church. A better deal Ovidia and Ovispo sell all of their cocoa to their farmers' association, a member of the Conacado farmer's co-operative. Less than half reaches the Fairtrade market, because as yet there is insufficient consumer demand. For this part of their crop, the farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price. The remaining cocoa is sold to the conventional market where prices have been very low, below the cost of production, for over two years. They have been earning an average of about 2,500 pesos a month which just about covers their costs and allows them living expenses. There is no money left over, but if there was, Ovidia would like to save it to make improvements to their home. The Fairtrade price has sustained them during long periods of low market prices. Sales to the Fairtrade market have enabled Conacado to set up a nursery, which supplies low-cost plants to the farmers, so they can grow most of their own food.