STiR coffee and tea magazine

42 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2020 (April / May) Gender Equity Series The International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA) began in 2003, when a group of women from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the US started a conversation about how to empower women in the coffee industry and to connect them to each other. Now, 17 years later, IWCA has chapters in 25 countries worldwide. But why is the emphasis on gender so important? Many non-profit organizations, NGOs, and for-profit com- panies are striving to improve working conditions, economic viability, healthcare, and daily life in general, on the ground for farmers and others in the global supply chain, in the hopes of changing the broader complex infrastructure by means of grassroots ac- tivism. Despite this good work, women remain marginalized in many important ways. In 2015, the Sustainability Council of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA; then the SCAA) released a white paper on gender equality, the premise of which is that the gender gap in coffee is quantifiable, demonstrated by data on distribution of labor; income; ownership; and leadership and decision-making. IWCA approaches these fun- damental discrepancies through the lens of its core values: 1. Respect: Every woman has a unique and valid voice; therefore, IWCA respects every person and their ideas. 2. Sustainability: IWCA supports programs that foster harmony of environmen- tal, social and economic impact. 3. Equity: IWCA supports programs that encourage the equitable allocation of resources in the world. 4. Integrity: Serving women in coffee is the ultimate goal of IWCA and to further this goal, all decisions are made with honesty and integrity. IWCA Promotes Gender IWCA Promotes Gender Equity in Coffee Equity in Coffee Locally driven, globally connected Locally driven, globally connected By Kim Westerman Women of IWCA Cameroon Credit - IWCA Cameroon

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