November 27, 2023
Have you heard about our Raíz Women’s Group?
The women’s farm yields are producing 12% more coffee than the Raíz group average.
Of participants report higher income.
Of farm and forest protected from degradation.
Years later, the women still meet and exchange agribusiness ideas.
There were two root causes Westrock Coffee developed Raíz’s Women’s Group:
- They were busy caring for their families and playing a key role on their farms. So, making time to attend Raíz training and implementing more time-consuming farm practices wasn’t feasible.
- Many women grew up with the feeling that the coffee business was a space only for men, so they shied away from participating in general trainings.
To help solve the problem, Westrock Coffee and implementing partners offered a flexible, women’s only training space and challenge fund.
The training space offered virtual agricultural trainings that could be completed at any time and a group message board so women could ask questions. Additionally, a psychologist offered the women sessions on recognizing their value, voicing gender inequalities, improving their confidence, and owning their position in the coffee industry.
The challenge fund required women to complete a series of improvements on their farms with support from Raíz partners. All who completed the fund would receive washing machines. This provided an immediate cost/benefit case to the women: Short-term, they invest time in training and farm improvements. Long-term, they receive resources that give them hours of their day back.
Westrock Coffee is thrilled with the success of this pilot program and is looking forward to how this group will continue to grow as well as starting new groups in the future.
