Celebrating International Women’s Day 2023!

Published 8 Mar 2023

March 8th is International Women’s Day 2023! This year’s theme, ‘Embrace Equity’, inspires and urges us to create a world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive – where differences are honoured and embraced, and opportunities are tailored to support the social, economic, cultural, and political advancement of women everywhere.

Coffee is complicated – there’s no way around that fact. Even today, most coffee crops are traded via a system that was deliberately designed to extract wealth from colonised countries and deposit it in colonising countries. The legacy of this model is a supply chain with a significant power imbalance between those on the producing side and those on the consuming side. And while this imbalance affects all people in coffee-producing communities, it undoubtedly impacts women the most.

In 2019, with the help of the Australian coffee community, MCM funded the construction of a craft and community building for the Rambagira Kawa women’s cooperative (pictured above) to weave baskets and other products – an important source of revenue during coffee’s off-season.

Aislinn and Mel officially opening the community building in June 2019

At MCM, we’re passionate about, and committed to, working to address the inherent inequity in the coffee supply chain. From day one, we’ve made a commitment to pay producers profitable prices for coffee quality, suitability and cost of production, regardless of fluctuations in the local or international markets, with the goal of establishing equitable buying practices with our producing partners. We recognise that we need to go even further; to continually examine and evolve our buying practices and prioritise action that addresses the unique complexities and challenges faced by the many different communities we work with.

Across all of our supply chains, we are priviliged to work with extraordinary professionals (who happen to be women!), who manage the sourcing, selection and transport of our coffees, like Aline Oriá (right), who oversees the logistics and export of our Brazilian shipments.

Along with her sister Katia, Bel Zelaya is the next generation of Santa Clara Estate and co-founder of the Santa Clara Scholarship Fund, which provides educational opportunities for farm workers’ children.

In this pursuit, we make a point of supporting initiatives and projects that have the potential to secure greater educational opportunities or financial independence for women producers and workers – an important step in eradicating the systemic and structural barriers that inhibit women from achieving equity and agency.

In Rwanda’s Southern Province, we are keen supporters of the Umuvumu Kindergarten – an initiative of our dear friends and suppliers, Buf Coffee. Buf’s owner, Epiphanie Murkashyaka (pictured with Umuvumu Headmistress Dancilla Uwimana), is one of the most inspiring women we know, and we feel enormously grateful to work with her and her team.

By purchasing coffees from women’s groups and female producers (like recent and upcoming offerings from Tarekech Werasa and Carmela Advuri), fundraising for women-led projects (like the construction of Rambagira Kawa’s craft and community building in Rwanda’s Northern Province), supporting educational initiatives (like the Santa Clara Scholarship Fund in Antigua, Guatemala), or simply showcasing the often invisible work that women perform within coffee production, our hope is to contribute to an independent and empowered supply chain, in which diversity is acknowledged and respected, and all people can access equitable opportunities to thrive.

Longtime supply partner Carmela Arduviri has worked in coffee for over four decades, and grows and produces one of our most consistently sought after Bolivian coffees every year, at her farm Carmelita!

This past year we were proud to offer our first Ethiopian lot from independent smallholder and producer, Tarekech Werasa, via The Lalisaa Project.

We don’t have all the answers, but on International Women’s Day, we invite you to join us in asking the necessary questions to Embrace Equity in the coffee supply chain, and to continue working together towards a more equitable future. Follow the link below to learn more about IWD.

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2023!

Published 8 Mar 2023

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