INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF WOMEN PRODUCERS WITH SHARED INTEREST
International Women’s Day takes place on 8th March. This year’s theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’ and will focus on inspiring others to understand the value of women’s inclusion, encouraging a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.
Throughout the regions Shared Interest work, from Rwanda to Nicaragua, there are many powerful examples of women not only becoming involved, but also leading the way in agricultural and craft sectors which have long been dominated by men. So, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we want to shine the spotlight on the inspiring female figures who are overcoming historical barriers to pave the way for a new generation of leaders in their industry.
MEET MERLING FROM NICARAGUA
We begin our journey in Central America. Established in 1997 under the leadership of Merling Preza, PRODECOOP (Promotora de Desarrollo Cooperativo de Las Segovias) is a Nicaraguan coffee co-operative committed to raising awareness of women’s rights and land ownership. Now General Manager, Merling is also Vice President of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC), as well as a member of the Board and General Assembly of Fairtrade International.
PRODECOOP have utilised their Fairtrade Premium to develop a Land Fund Programme to address the barriers (an extra sum of money paid on top of the selling price that farmers or workers invest in projects of their choice) women face within the co-operative. Merling told us, “Even though we do have 854 women, the majority of these women have less than two hectares (of land). Women have the smallest area of production in general.” Discussing the Land Fund Programme, Merling continued, “women are trained directly in both the value chain of coffee and also on issues in leadership, finance, management of credit, the whole issue of legalisation of land, access to resources… with the aim that by developing their skills they can access leadership roles.”
In 2006, Shared Interest provided finance to help the co-operative meet demand for their coffee and pay farmers at harvest time. Merling said: “Without Shared Interest finance, a large proportion of our coffee producers would have been denied a good income - they would have sold their coffee on the local market at very low prices.”
MEET ELIZABETH FROM PERU
In South America, COOPARM (Cooperativa Agraria Rodríguez de Mendoza) is setting a precedent for gender equality by placing people and the planet at the forefront of their work in producing high quality coffee. One of 500 members, Elizabeth Arista Salazar is President of COOPARM’s Women’s Committee as well as a coffee farmer. In our interview with Elizabeth, she told us: “Here, we do not have a gender distinction. We work hard and do incredible things.”
Elizabeth said: “The main vision for the Women’s Committee is that we are given visibility of women’s issues and women’s needs - as mothers, as well as producers. Women are responsible for bringing up the children and organising the household. Some are single mothers. We don’t have much in the way of resources ourselves.”
In addition, COOPARM have allocated a percentage of the Fairtrade Premium to the Women’s Committee, Elizabeth said: “We meet to decide what to do with it. We might buy seeds. We might use the money to support a female member who is ill or who is in particular need at any time...this is my second year as President. I want to keep on doing this to make sure that the female members of the co-operative are happy…I encourage all women to prepare for big goals and have confidence to achieve them,
you would be amazed at the times this combination works miracles.”
Shared Interest has provided support to COOPARM for over a decade and the co-operative uses their facility all year round. Due to farmers being located at different altitudes, they harvest coffee continuously and the finance enables them to pay farmers when their coffee is collected.
MEET AWA FROM IVORY COAST
In West Africa, Awa Traoré is the General Manager of cocoa co-operative CAYAT (Coopérative Agricole de Yakasse Attobrou). Based in Ivory Coast, CAYAT was formed in 2010 with 283 members. They became Fairtrade certified in 2012, and have grown to over 3,000 members located across 38 villages in Ivory Coast; 400 of these members are women.
Awa told us: “We have demonstrated that women must take a leading position in order to change things in our society.” The co-operative created a Women’s Society in 2015 to support female farmers to play a greater role in business and community development. Today, CAYAT refers to this as the Women’s Union and it has 500 participants, including wives of male farmers, carrying out various income-generating activities, such as growing cassava and maize.”
Awa said: “For us, it is important to create the Union to restore social justice first, and then women can play a role in community development; it is important for women to have autonomy so that they can work alongside their husbands and provide for the needs of their family.”
CAYAT members also attended the Women’s School of Leadership, developed by Fairtrade Africa in 2017, which supports producer organisations to better integrate women into all aspects of agricultural development, including financial management, income diversification and human rights.
In 2017, CAYAT established a rural radio station with funds from the Fairtrade Premium which aims to be the voice of the producer. ‘Radio CAYAT’ explores topics such as health, environment, agribusiness, gender equality and female leaders and role models within the community.
Shared Interest first provided finance to CAYAT in 2016, enabling them to increase production and meet the growing demand for cocoa.
INVEST IN A FAIRER WORLD
We remain committed to supporting remarkable women such as Merling, Elizabeth and Awa as we bridge the gender gap in agriculture and empower women throughout the supply chain, on International Women’s Day and beyond.
To find out more about Shared Interest, please visit www.shared-interest.com