While women have always been crucial to coffee production in Peru, men traditionally held economic power. In 2003, 464 female coffee producers in Peru united to change this dynamic and take a step toward empowerment. They decided to separate their coffee production from men to gain visibility and a voice inside their community. Working in partnership with OPTCO, they developed a market for women-produced coffee to serve as an important vehicle for social change and the empowerment of impoverished, marginalized women coffee farmers. Since then, the Café Femenino movement now includes thousands of women farmers from nine countries across the world.

Caravan Coffee has been a proud roaster of Peru Café Femenino since 2014, paying premium prices for green beans that directly support female farmers and their families. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit coffee growers especially hard. In Peru, the medical system is overwhelmed causing a ripple effect in the speed and efficiency at which products are brought to market, the current market price, and the country’s ability to transport goods. Growers have had to rely upon emergency assistance from the Café Femenino Foundation for basic necessities and food.   

In recognition of International Women’s Day (March 8) and the hard work of Café Femenino growers, we are partnering with the Café Femenino Foundation to support a Water Reservoir project in Peru. The irrigation venture will provide water not just for coffee, but also for other crops that will supplement Café Femenino growers during off-seasons, furthering their community’s sustainability and security.

To learn more about the Café Femenino Foundation listen to our Instagram Coffee Sesh with foundation president Marilyn Dryke.