“Overall, women earn less income, own less land, control fewer assets, have less access to credit and market information, greater difficulty obtaining inputs, and fewer training and leadership opportunities. These disparities create inefficiencies in the coffee value chain because women, who perform fundamental agricultural tasks, are not accessing the resources needed to maintain or improve their output.
The coffee industry has a profound reach into the agricultural sector: as many as 100 million agricultural producers depend on coffee production for their livelihoods. The specialty coffee industry has a tremendous opportunity to minimize the gender gap in agriculture to the benefit of our specialty coffee supply and our suppliers.”
— Blueprint for Gender Equality in the Coffee Highlands
Women make up 70% of the workforce in coffee production, yet they have systematically lower access to resources like land, credit and information. As coffee roasters, we are always asking ourselves how we can contribute to closing this gender gap.
Each week this month, we'll be sharing women-owned businesses, organizations and individuals to learn from and support - we'll also be donating 5 cents of every pound roasted this month to Bean Voyage!
We are excited to double-down on our commitment to gender equity, both this month and all year long, by:
Sourcing
from women coffee producers, and celebrating their stories. We are excited to bring you seven of our nine coffees this month from women-owned farms! Learn more about them on the postcards included with your coffee, or at driftaway.coffee/coffees
Sharing stories
of women producers & organizations supporting gender equity in coffee origin countries, and highlighting the critical role women play in coffee production. Make sure you are signed up for our email list and following us on Instagram to celebrate with us!
Giving Back
5 cents of every pound roasted to Bean Voyage, a feminist organization building an equitable coffee value chain that works for all. They work with smallholder women coffee farmers to create thriving businesses.
Meet Bean Voyage!
A nonprofit educational program founded in Costa Rica and now expanded into Mexico, Bean Voyage prepares women farmers with tools and knowledge to combat continuing challenges of climate change, food insecurity and economic volatility.
They work with smallholder women coffee farmers, ones who own less than 10 hectares (25 acres) of farmland. 60.1% of their participants make less than $240 a month, and 68% of the participants do not make enough income from their coffee business to cover basic costs of living.
An average Bean Voyage graduate earns 212% more in annual coffee sales revenue than the market prices, an amazing accomplishment. To date, the program has reached over 2,400 community members in all eight coffee producing regions of Costa Rica.
The Care Trade Model
With their play on "Fair Trade", Bean Voyage provides a bundle of services consisting of training, finance, mentorship, and market access to improve business outcomes for smallholder women coffee farmers and their families over a three-year period.
Stronger Than Coffee
With cameras in hand, five Costa Rican women reveal what it means - and what it takes - to be coffee producers in an industry that often makes them invisible. Stronger Than Coffee (Más Que Un Café in Spanish) is a series of five short films about the women who grow the world's coffee, told entirely in their own voices.
Get Involved
There are many ways to support Bean Voyage and help more women farmers access the kind of resources and markets that can sustain them not just for a harvest, but for generations. Check out the different ways you can get involved!
Doña Aracelly Robles, coffee farmer in Costa Rica who works with Bean Voyage
