hadja sylla gave up her well-paid administrative job in the city for the collective. and she has gained the trust of the locals. >> our philosophy is to allow people to be cooperative employees and own a plantation. the double income secures them a higher standard of living. >> my life has improved since i've been growing bananas. i built this house, i bought a car. i have two wives and six children, they all go to school. on sundays the shore of lake >> samaya is transformed into a market. farmers paddle across the water to sell their fresh wares on the other side. koutoubou khady from the cooperative haggles over every bunch of bananas. >> most of what we sell we produce ourselves, but for big contracts we sometimes have to buy in. khady has already negotiated with the producers, now she has to get the agreed amount together, negotiate a price, and transport the bananas to our client in conakry. with demand growing, the cooperative has to expand. forty new farmers have applied to join since the start of the year, and practical training courses are now offered on the