Coffee With a Cause
While all our coffees are purchased with a focus on quality, sustainable practices and eye-level partnerships, this coffee is certified organic and supports a cause dear to our heart.
Sofie, in charge of quality control at our green coffee partner 32cup in Antwerp, sums up the story of this coffee really nicely:
JUMARP “El Palto” is a small producer association with around 200 members in the Amazonas province in Northern Peru. 32cup has been a loyal partner for them over the past 3 years and we want to support the community any way we can.
Two ladies who work at El Palto (one works in export and commercialization, the other is an agronomist who works at the coffee intake point and has her own farm) noticed how the women members in the group seemed to be totally uninvolved. They weren’t attending meetings or trainings or taking part in anything organized by El Palto.
These two ladies set out to figure out why and how this was by talking to their members. The responses they got were along the lines of:
- I am not supposed to do that as a woman
- I abandon my home and family if I participate more actively
After which, they decided they wanted to change the image these women had of themselves, gender roles and expectations. They created a plan to change the minds of the community and received funding in 2016 from Root Capital to start implementing their plan.
To begin with, they created a focus group of only women within El Palto that is setting an example for all other women in the community. Within this group, women members feel more at ease to express their ideas as a starting point to gain confidence to do the same in the broader group. Since gender equity really is the goal, the idea is not that the group remains a separate entity, but that everyone acquires the skills to collaborate and discuss on the same level when they are ready for it.
Within this women producer program (really a gender equity program), there are also a lot of trainings, not only to teach women to see their farm as a business and to get involved, but also on gender roles in society, equal treatment and equal opportunities for everyone. This program not only aims at women to empower themselves, but also works with men, children, everyone young and old, to build a more equal society towards the future. It also teaches business skills so that women feel strong enough to take up a position in the board of the association and maybe even become the president of the group for a year.
Photo by No Eh / 32Cup