Joyce is a member of Kasinthula Cane Growers Ltd in Malawi, which supplies Traidcraft with sugar. She and her neighbours in the village of Chinangwa already know about the benefits of fair trade, as they enjoy clean, fresh water from a borehole paid for with the Fairtrade premium.
"The fair trade programme is doing good things here," Joyce said. "The village where I live has one borehole and is to receive electricity. It is very exciting. We never believed this would be possible!"
So what difference will electricity make to Joyce’s life?
"Now when we are going to cook we use the firewood. When we have electricity we will be able to use it for cooking. Now I need to use a lamp but we will be able to use electricity for light and we will have fridges to keep food fresh."
Joyce wants to provide the best for her son, Chiyembekezo. His name means "waiting for something good" and Joyce believes that people in the UK can play a part in helping her son – and other sugar farmers' families – to enjoy something good as they grow up.
"I want my baby to have a good future," she said. "If I am able to get more money, I could send him to high school so he may stand by himself in the future.
Kasinthula Cane Growers Ltd (KCG) (Malawi)
Kasinthula is an association of farmers in the very disadvantaged southern region of Malawi, prone to both drought and flooding at different times of the year.
Its sugar became Fairtrade certified in 2003 and they have since received significant fair trade orders. The sugar is processed and marketed through Illovo sugar.
The Fairtrade premium is enabling farmers to install boreholes in their villages, which have relied, until recently, on contaminated water supplies from the crocodile-infested Shire River. It has also enabled farmers to adequately prepare for the recent food shortages and continue to feed their families.
Buying Fairtrade sugar
Buying Traidcraft's fair trade granulated sugar makes a real difference.
"We give praise to fair trade," said Joyce. "I want you to tell people that they make Joyce, a sugar farmer, very happy when they buy our Kasinthula sugar."
