Cafecita Coffee
Women make up the majority of the manual labor force on coffee farms, yet are often excluded from leadership positions and land ownership. Less than 20% of coffee farms around the world are owned by women, and in many countries that number is as low as 5%. Many women face barriers to market access, financing, and training while carrying the double burden of farm work and household care. Even more problematic is when women do own their farms, research shows that they receive far less revenue for their coffee.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has stated that, “just giving women the same access as men to agricultural resources could increase production on women’s farms in developing countries by 20 to 30 percent. This could raise total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent, which could, in turn, reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent.”
Not only would women coffee producers benefit from equal access to markets and agricultual resources, studies have shown that women reinvest up to 90% of their earnings back into their households - that's money spent on food, healthcare, and education - helping to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty for their families and communities.
This is why Cafecita works specifically with women producers to ensure they receive their fair share of the profits and that gender equality is respected at every stage of production. This empowerment leads to better outcomes for families and communities, and the beans consistently score higher in quality.
The full FAO statement is available here.
To read more about our specific coffees and the impact on our women producers, please visit Our Coffee Producers page.
“Empowering Women at Origin.” Emily Meneses, Barista Magazine Online. January 2021
“Ten Coffees from Women Producers that Should be on Your Radar." Kim Westerman, Coffee Review. August 2023
“A Blueprint for Gender Equality in the Coffeelands.” SCAA Sustainability Council. 2015
“Women in the Coffee Industry: What You Should Know.”Perfect Daily Grind. 2018
“Women in Coffee: Analysis of women’s participation and opportunities for growth in coffee value chains in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.” USAID Green Invest Asia. 2019
“Gender Equality in the Coffee Sector: An Insight Report from the International Coffee Organization.” International Coffee Organization (ICO). October 2018.
“8 Steps to Building Gender Equity into the Global Coffee Supply Chain.” Perfect Daily Grind. 2016.
"Why Counting Women in Agriculture Matters." COSA. March 2017.
The August 2017 IWCA Convention in Puebla, Mexico included presentations from several leading research organizations in the panel titled, "Quantifying Women in Coffee: Who, Where, What?". Summaries are available below:
