Amoung Coocentral’s specialty coffee programs, the cooperative
has developed the women coffee growers’ program, to which
currently belong more than 600 women.
Women have always been a cornerstone for the agro-food
industry in Colombia. In fact, according to the National Coffee
Federation (2021), women represent 31% of colombian coffee
producers. However, nowadays and thanks to this program there
is visibility and acknowledgement of their job. For instance, a
woman head of household is capable of executing her managing
rol in her plantation and comercialize her coffee instead of
delegating these tasks to men.
The Women Coffee Growers Program started in 2017 and has two
main goals: to coach women to stregthen their managing skills
and to improve infraestructure.
To date, three phases of the program have been executed. Each
phase covers the same subjects but encompasses different group
of women. On the one hand, lectures on issues such as
productivity, quality, leadership and women empowerment are
delivered, strengthening women’s knowledge regarding farm
managament. On the other side, to improve drying infraestructure,
the program gave away african raised beds to all the women that
took part in the trainning. In addition, the women that took part in
phase 1 received coffee roasters, and the women that took part in
phase 2 had the opportunity to choose between a larger portfolio:
fermentation tanks, quality kits, hoppers, among others.
Each phase lasted one year and it reached a total of 300 women.
The results of the program are outstanding.
During the first two phases the production of
specialty women coffee increased from 87.608
kg in 2018 to 278.011 kg in 2020
In addition, Coocentral guarantee direct trade for their coffee
under a differenciated price that was and keep being transferred
to the women at the time of delivery. Due to this differenciated
price, the women that belong to the program have received for
their coffee up to 20% more than the market average price.
Lastly, not only the program has highlight women coffee growers
and their importance locally, but also it has given them visibility
around the world due to the clients that purchase and distribute
their coffee.
