Oct 1st 2022. Cheers to coffee! Happy International Coffee Day!
We love coffee, you love coffee. The whole world loves coffee! We drink 2 billion cups of coffee per day, ( I am so glad I don’t have to wash all the cups myself!) so it is worth dedicating a special day to our favourite drink.
For DONA, International Coffee Day is a day to celebrate the courageous women behind each or our beans.
It’s no news that women are involved in the production of any coffee that we drink: They prune the coffee trees, they pick and sort the coffee cherries, but this work is rarely paid – hey, it is part of the housework! Men tend to take the product to the market and manage the money. Also, most of the coffee lands are still owned by men, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America white paper on Gender equity.
So, what is DONA doing to change this? At DONA, ALL our coffees come EXCLUSIVELY from women-owned coffee farms. By giving more women coffee producers access to the specialty coffee market, we give them visibility, celebrate their exceptional effort, courage, and drive, and inspire other women to be at the decision table.
Some people ask, but how do you find these women?
Good news! There are many amazing projects in the world, working to recognize the role that women play in the coffee-producing countries.
Initiatives such as CAFÉ FEMENINO, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S COFFEE ALLIANCE (IWCA), BEAN VOYAGE, WOMEN IN COFFEE PROJECT, CAFÉ DELAS and many more, are working to give these women’s coffee visibility and access to the markets. They are attempting to correct the disparity between the labour women put into coffee and the income they receive. And yes, the magic word: EMPOWERING. Definitely needed and welcomed to give them voice in their communities as landowners and members of the coffee producing community.
Great emotion to meet The Boza sisters, coffee producers from El Salvador, at the World of Coffee in Milano last June. I hope DONA can offer their excellent coffee soon!
And it is widely known that, when women have more power to make decisions, there are more investments made in education, nutrition and health for their families and their communities. It seems so straightforward, right?
So, the term “female produced” is not a buzzword to the ones who think that coffee tastes better when it comes from a more gender balanced world. We all have a role to play to support them.
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