Global Connections, Local Projects
Examples of active projects occurring across the IWCA Global Network include those listed below. To learn how you can support these or other projects in development, contact us directly.
Higher Ground: Uplifting Women in the Jamaican Coffee Industry
Higher Ground is a multi-year project to assist Jamaican women producers with coffee quality improvements and sustainable farming practices, business and marketing skills, and leadership capacity building that will empower the coffee community and ensure appreciation of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee grown by women farmers. By combining the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) best practices and go-to-market strategies with leadership training and certification of Q Grader and Q Processing professionals, the members of Jamaican Women in Coffee (JaWiC) - a chapter of IWCA - will improve quality and develop internal, self-sustaining leadership capacity to gain international coffee market appeal for their specialty coffee. This is a pivotal moment in history, one shaped by a pandemic and recognition of inequities borne by Black people, to support success of women in the coffee industry. When women succeed in business, the entire community benefits. To make a contribution to this project, please visit the IWCA online donation portal. To become a lead or major donor, please contact Andrea Johnson, JaWiC Board President. The Field Study Report which captures the baseline summary of challenges facing women in coffee in Jamaica is available here.
Partnering for Business and Financial Literacy
Through a project with Food Enterprise Solutions (FES), Earth’s Choice Organic Coffee and Rotary International, the business literacy training manual, “Women in Coffee Microfinance Learning Loan Program” is now available in both English and Spanish to all IWCA Chapter Members. The Learning Loan Manual supports fundraising for revolving loans and provides pre-, mid-, and post-loan training in business and financial literacy. The approach empowers women by building their business skills while providing them access to affordable loans. Built on the Grameen Bank “group loan” model, the project has a 98% repayment rate to date! FES will be working with IWCA, Earth’s Choice, and Rotary International to launch a virtual training series based on this curriculum. We also plan to translate the manual into French and Portuguese. A .pdf of The Learning Loan Manual is available for a minimum donation of US$25 to the IWCA, link here.
IWCA El Salvador & International Partner Tackle KEY Environmental Challenges
In August 2019, the IWCA El Salvador Chapter, also known as the Alianza de Mujeres en Café de El Salvador (AMCES), signed an agreement of collaboration with the Holland-Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce to work together to support two AMCES projects focused on environmental issues. Project 1 focuses on plastics recycling, reuse, and reduction. Project 2 focuses on soil-related climate change mitigation techniques. Both projects seek to build community engagement and knowledge transfer. For more information, or to join this effort, review the summary (link here) or contact Maria Botto, IWCA El Salvador Chapter President.
IWCA Dominican Republic & Caffe Vergnano seek to develop Local Roasting Capacity
Through the 2017 IWCA Global Leadership Summit process, the IWCA Dominican Republic Chapter developed a project proposal to create a roasting facility that would build local roasting capacity, as well as support local consumption of high quality coffee. The project requires securing the appropriate facilities and equipment, as well as technical training in coffee, business, and other skills.
Inspired by the 2018 International Coffee Day theme, “Women in Coffee”, Caffe Vergnano in Turino, Italy, reached out to the IWCA. In January 2019, Caffe Vergnano launched the Women in Coffee Pink Capsule Collection campaign to support a project developed by the IWCA Dominican Republic to build women’s capacity to roast and sell coffees locally. In January 2020, Carolina Vergnano shared with the IWCA that €11,000 had been raised, and that they are preparing the roaster for March 2020 delivery to the Dominican Republic.
IWCA Brasil Brings Visibility to Women in Coffee across brasil
Launch of English version hosted by NCA at ICO September 2018 Meeting
In partnership with Embrapa, support provided by Solidaridad, IWCA Global, and UN Women, IWCA Brasil published their much-anticipated and innovative compilation of perspectives of women in coffee communities across all of Brazil’s coffee regions.
The 17 chapter book is written by 40 Brazilian research working from 11 different organizations, including several leading universities. The result is an unprecedented and in-depth effort to bring visibility to and understanding of Brazil’s diverse peoples and cultures within coffee. Each chapter includes unique approaches, ranging from intimate interviews focused on family life to data-driven analysis of cooperatives.
These publications are published as ePub files. To read them, use or download one of the following free software options to your computer or mobile device. Android: Google Play Books; IOS: iBooks; Windows and Linux: Calibre.
IWCA Rwanda Chapter launches new Women’s Cooperative
Through a partnership with the IWCA, the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) provided seed funding to the IWCA Rwanda Chapter to develop a new women’s cooperative approach in the Rulindo area of Rwanda. The multi-year project includes the purchase of land, and partnerships with a local washing station. Other key partners include the International Trade Centre (ITC), World Coffee Research, and Sustainable Harvest.
In April 2018, IWCA Rwanda Chapter President, Angelique Karkezi shared a project overview at the IWCA Breakfast at the SCA Expo in Portland, available here.