LONDON, UK – Women contribute significantly to the global coffee sector. Between 20% and 30% of coffee farms are female-operated and up to 70% of labour in coffee production is provided by women, depending on the region.
However, the empirical evidence presented in this report shows that women have systematically lower access to resources, such as land, credit and information, than men. This often results in a measurable gender gap in economic outcomes, including yields, productivity and farm income.
The gains from closing the gender gap are significant and there is a role for both the public and the private sectors, as well as consumers, in fostering empowerment and achieving gender equality.
ICO’s latest inside report on gender equality in the coffee sector discusses how gender-sensitive and evidence-based public policies, services and programmes, as well as sustainable supply chain policies, can reach, benefit and empower women.
The resulting enhanced access to human and social capital, productive assets as well as finance and skills would enable women to produce more efficiently, achieving higher yields and farm profits. Improving women’s resilience to economic shocks, such as volatile coffee prices, and building adaptive capacity to climate change also fosters long-term sustainability of rural livelihoods and coffee supply.
Hence, empowerment of women involved in coffee production – as farm operators, family labour, or workers – directly contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of gender equality.
Family members and rural communities will benefit from well documented positive spillovers in various dimensions of economic and social development such as food security, health and education.
The full report is available at this link (pdf file).
