Gender Research in Coffee
The following is a summary and key points of the article “Breaking New Ground in Gender Research in Coffee” which discusses groundbreaking research efforts to quantify and recognize the contributions of women in the coffee industry.
Here are some key points:
1. Women in Coffee Production
- Women perform up to 70% of the labor in coffee production, yet their contributions often go unrecognized.
- There is a significant lack of data on women’s involvement in the coffee supply chain, even in major producing countries like Brazil.
2. The IWCA
- Formed by the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) to address the data gap on female coffee producers.
- It’s led by Ruth Ann Church, who joined the IWCA Board of Directors in 2014.
- They aim to collect data on the number of female producers in each coffee-producing country.
3. Brazil Research Project
- In collaboration between IWCA Brazil chapter and Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation).
- The project focuses on gathering data about women in Brazil’s coffee industry through questionnaires and field research.
- The project is divided into two phases, with the first phase collecting nearly 1,000 questionnaires.
4. Results from Six Countries
- The article presents preliminary data on female coffee producers in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Rwanda, and Burundi.
- The percentages of female producers range from 19-34% in these countries.
5. Challenges and Future Work
- Funding for travel is a major obstacle for researchers collecting data in coffee-producing regions.
- The IWCA Research Alliance emphasizes the importance of using local in-country volunteers for data collection.
6. Significance of The Research
- It aims to create recognition for women’s roles in coffee production.
- It seeks to develop a more accurate understanding of the industry to ensure effective investments and advancements.
This summary is based on the article “Breaking New Ground in Gender Research in Coffee” by Ruth Ann Church and Josiane Cotrim Macieira, published on The First Pull blog. For the full article and more detailed information, please visit the original article.
