Pictures courtesy of Nespresso partner TechnoServe WOMEN IN COFFEE Nespresso’s commitment to gender equality in coffee sourcing. Advancing gender equality is a key driver for coffee sustainability and can have a significant impact on coffee quality and productivity. Strengthening the role of women farmers would increase economic growth, improve social well-being, ensure sustainable development and reduce poverty among millions of people. This new research by Nespresso examines the barriers to strengthening the role of women in coffee farming and identifies opportunities to increase the involvement of women – representing huge potential benefits for communities across coffee-growing regions. Empowering women to play a more direct role in the management of smallholder farms could have a significant impact on the economic and social development of millions of people. Research by the UN shows that when women work, economies grow faster and communities directly benefit, as women tend to invest more of their earned income into their family’s health, nutrition and education. However, in many countries women are lacking equal access to training and support, lessening their potential to play a significant role in coffee production. This is often due to men owning most of the land as well as women’s additional responsibilities such as child care and domestic duties. One of the objectives of Nespresso’s AAA Sustainable Quality programme – which encourages farmers to learn sustainable quality practices – is to ensure women farmers have access to this critical knowledge and training. Research has shown that many farmers prefer being trained by women agronomists, so Nespresso has started tailoring recruitment processes to attract more women to those positions. Already, women represent 31 per cent of the 441 agronomists working with coffee farmers worldwide through the programme, compared to an estimated 15 per cent global average. Through a new study that aimed to measure the gender gap in coffee farming, Nespresso has developed a field-tested gender analysis tool that supplier field teams can use to get a deeper understanding of the gaps and opportunities to strengthen the impact on women coffee farmers’ participation, learning and economic empowerment. The tool collects a wide set of data on farmers, including: education and literacy levels, access to transport, views on female trainers as well as comparing how husbands and wives view their roles in coffee farming. Based on findings from the analysis, Nespresso is implementing new initiatives that include gender sensitisation training and new recruitment processes for agronomists across different local communities. All members of the AAA programme, including more than 400 agronomists as well as farmers and community and cooperative leaders, will receive new gender sensitisation training aimed at appreciating the benefits of increased gender equity and the methods of achieving it. This training will be followed up with regular refreshers. Additionally, the analysis found many women stated a preference for female trainers. The AAA programme will work closely with local communities to tailor recruitment initiatives for female agronomists and the roll-out of a revised sexual harassment policy will ensure a safe work environment for women. The company is investing more than USD225,000 on the field programmes this year. Daniel Weston, Nespresso head of sustainability says: ‘‘Gender equality is a critical part of coffee sustainability and something that is an integral part of our AAA programme. We know there is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach for the 70,000 coffee farmers of the programme, so we have been working with our partners to find the most appropriate ways to increase the number of female farmers within our programme. For example, to address female farmers not feeling qualified to apply for an agronomist role, we have advertised a several-day training course instead of a job offer and found more females were inclined to participate. We are proud to be leading the way in creating initiatives that encourage more women to participate in coffee farming.’’ Nespresso Coffee, Machines and Accessories are available at Nespresso Boutique, Level 1, Bahrain City Centre, Nespresso Booth, Gate 5 Seef Mall, Customer Care — 80 001-999 and online at www.buynespresso.com/bh advertorial May 2018 17 www.bahrainthismonth.com
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