Women are the Hidden Workforce in Coffee and Cocoa
We’re working to change that.
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Women play critical roles throughout the coffee and cocoa process, however men most often capture the resulting income.
Women play critical roles throughout the coffee and cocoa process, however men most often capture the resulting income.
Gender gaps and inequities are especially prevalent in coffee-cocoa-producing countries, which means that farmers around the world are not producing to their fullest capacity. On smallholder farms producing 80% of the world’s coffee and cocoa, men and women often have specific roles on the family farm. Women typically do the majority of the work that directly impacts quality and yields while men control transporting and selling. Despite the importance of plant care, harvesting, processing and sorting to a better, more quality-centered coffee-cocoa-growing business, women are often excluded from decision-making processes. Furthermore, they have less access than their male counterparts to vital resources, including adequate remuneration, land, credit, agricultural inputs, training, information and leadership opportunities.
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Our Top Priorities
Equal Origins is creating common tools and methodologies to support the coffee and cocoa industry’s engagement and investment in gender equity across the value chain. These tools will serve to improve the livelihoods of producers and enhance the sustainable supply of quality coffee and cocoa.
Ensure farming women can benefit from services needed to be successful
We created an online diagnostic tool for companies that provide sustainability education and technical support to farmers and farmer organizations.
Ensure that gender equity becomes core to sustainability sourcing programs
With our Buyer-Supplier alliance, organizations answer questions and receive a gender equity scorecard that supports them to build gender-responsive programs and benchmarks them vis-à-vis their peers
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Gender Equity is the key to healthy families, vibrant farming communities and resilient supply chains.
As agricultural supply chains begin to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and resources are prioritized to respond to the global emergency, gender equity must remain a priority.
In the midst of the current crisis, Equal Origins is working to ensure that gender equity remains core to sustainability and responsible sourcing programs as the coffee and cacao sectors evolve.
In particular, Equal Origins is working with producer organizations in coffee and cacao to evaluate their performance related to gender equity, develop solutions to address the gaps identified, and integrate those solutions into their plans for recovery, reactivation, and resilience-building for the post-COVID future.
By investing in gender equity, we can see significant improvements in crop productivity and quality as well as marked social impact. When we engage the full capacities of both men and women in the coffee and cocoa supply chain, the resilience of all stakeholders, including communities, crops and businesses, will be strengthened.
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Programs
Gender Equity Index (GEI)
The Gender Equity Index (GEI) is an exciting new tool to ensure farming women can access and benefit from the services they need to be successful.
Buyer-Supplier Alliance
Equal Origins created the Buyer-Supplier Alliance to ensure that gender equity becomes core to sustainability and responsible sourcing programs.
Some Of Our Partners & Sponsors
Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.