Women making their mark in coffee industries across the globe

THE CONTRIBUTIONS of women to the coffee industry have frequently been unrecognised and undervalued across the supply chain, and representation is unequal in the most profitable sectors.

The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (ICWA) has been seeking to change that situation with the vision of empowering and connecting women in order to improve all aspects of the coffee industry thus offering women a better way of life.

ESTABLISHED FROM PARTNERSHIPS

The ICWA, which was initiated in 2003 through the efforts of women from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the United States, has established itself through partnerships that have allowed the organisation to bring women together in a way that have enabled them to build their families, communities and the industry they love through the sustainable livelihoods they have been able to generate.

ICWA operates by establishing chapters in countries where there is interest for the organisation to operate. To date, there are chapters in 24 countries spanning Africa, Asia, Middle

East, Latin America and the Caribbean with a number of countries. The Jamaican chapter, Jamaica Women in Coffee established since 2018, has been connecting women in the industry through surveys, trainings, seminars, and meetings, with a view of opening the thought process of not just women but industry players on a whole as to the responsibility, professionalism, and awareness required by each stakeholder sob that the industry can be a sustainable income earner for all.