Research within the IWCA Network

The IWCA Research Alliance is a network of researchers and partners focused on collecting credible data on topics of critical importance to advance IWCA's mission and the sustainability of the global coffee industry. Research Alliance Committee members are typically based in producing countries and include several IWCA Chapter leaders.

Below we have also highlighted research activities completed by IWCA Chapters and topics of relevance to achieving IWCA’s mission.

Overview of Published Reports on Women in Coffee: 2015 - 2018

Overview of Published Reports on Women in Coffee: 2015 - 2018, updated in March 2019, was completed by a group of reviewers convened by IWCA Global's Research Alliance. All are committed to promoting the need for more thorough and well-designed data collection, credible analysis and public sharing of well-written reports on the topic of women in coffee. The last few years have seen several new reports, some widely publicized in the coffee industry, and some less so. With this document, we hope to make it easier for researchers interested in expanding this body of literature to assess the most recent quality and types of completed works, who has contributed important field work on the topic and where the gaps remain. The ten reports reviewed in this document are not deemed of equal value or importance. The criteria to be on the list was that the report appeared publicly between 2015 - 2018 and the report must address gender issues in coffee directly. Please contact Ruth Ann Church if you believe a report has mistakenly been omitted. Please download, enjoy and share!

IWCA Research Alliance Releases New Data

In June 2018, IWCA Research Alliance Chair, Ruth Ann Church, published a blog post describing the context and recent accomplishments of the IWCA Research Alliance. The post included the most recent version of the table below, which lists estimates of women in coffee from seven coffee producing countries.

Please visit the 2018 IWCA Research Alliance blogpost for additional context.

Sources for IWCA Research Alliance June 2018 Table: 2013 estimates from Instituto del Cafe de Costa Rica (ICAFE) in Costa Rica; 2013 estimates from the Consejo in El Salvador; 2016/2017 estimates from Anacafe (Guatemala); 2013 report from the Instituto Hondurevo del Café (ICAFE) Registro Nacional de Productores; Recensement General des Cafeiers Edition 2006-2007, from Institute de Statistiques Et D’Etudes Economiques du Burundi, (ISTEEBU); 2015 Coffee Census published by Rwanda's National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), released May 2016; Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC).

Recent Women In Coffee Data PreSENTATIONS

IWCA Invited to Present to the ICO in Cote d'Ivoire

In his opening speech at the 2017 IWCA Convention, Jose Sette, the new Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) communicated that ICO members should not only improve their capacity to provide employment data on men and women, but also recognize the strong contributions of women.

The ICO is considering new rules for the member countries' submissions of data. Currently, countries submit data focused solely on production: kilograms, bags and beans. IWCA was invited to present at a special meeting of the ICO Statistics Committee in Cote d'Ivoire on September 25, 2017. The narration of IWCA's presentation to ICO members is available on the IWCA You Tube Channel.

August 2017 IWCA Convention

The August 2017 IWCA Convention in Puebla, Mexico included presentations from several leading research organizations in the panel titled, "Quantifying Women in Coffee: Who, Where, What?". Summaries are available below: