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 plantation. >> here we have different offshoots. this one, known as a 'bayonet' leads to a greater fruit yield, so you have to leave them to grow, but these ones have a destructive effect and prevent the mother plant from developing, so they have to be destroyed. the cooperative works with a research lab in order to breed particularly resistant banana plants. >> if we have a power cut for two or three days, it ruins the cultures we have in the growth chamber. without power and refrigeration, the bacteria and fungi in the petri dishes spread and infect the seedlings, which means we