Coffee growing & sourcing
Being a woman coffee producer what does it mean?
Leslie Laborde | 2021-11-09
Women play a vital role in the sector.
They have a strong involvement in the farms and represent more than 70% of the labour force in the fields, harvesting, sorting beans...
However, only 10% of them are entrepreneurs and only 20% are landowners(including joint ownership with their husbands).
Increasing the income of women producers has a direct & positive impact on the education of children and the comfort of the home.
KETIARA, a women's cooperative on the island of Sumatra
Ketiara means "success" in the Gayo language and this is the case for this 90% women's cooperative
In 2019, Laura Enciso took over her family's 43-hectare farm (including 25 hectares of coffee) in a country where women rarely run farms.
GENET SEIFU, Jimma Ethiopia
Straight from the Limmu Kossa area near the village of Wolensu, this natural coffee is produced by Genet Seifu. She grows varieties 74110, 74140, 74145 & heirloom under forest cover on 100 hectares.
A perfect example of a committed cooperative, 90% of which is made up of women.
Actions of process water treatment, waste sorting, free distribution of shade trees to reforest the plots, financial aid system for women producers with the creation of a "Farmers saving account"... Once the harvest is over, the women make local handicrafts from woven sisal that are sold in the coop.
Do you know the Musasa Milk project? The cooperative has offered each woman farmer a cow to fertilise the fields but also to diversify their income with the sale of fresh milk...
FINCA SANTA MARIA, Santander region Colombia
Located near the town of Aratoca, this farm is owned by Oscar Daza but is run entirely by women, from picking to processing, which is why it is certified Manos de Mujeres.
MULHERES DO CAPARAO, Brazil
Mulheres do Caparaó is a group of 5 women producers created by Josimar Sodré. They decided that specialty coffee was their best bet for the future and initiated a transition to specialty on their farms with organic certification in progress. Go girls!
COMSA needs no introduction! Café Organico de Marcala understands coffee growing as a whole and in a sustainable way. Training and support for producers in the transition to organic farming, creation of Montesorri schools for children...
Among the 700 producers, some emblematic women producers like Miriam Elisabeth Perez and Maria Zelaya...
