Building resilience of women in the coffee sector

About the project

Women bear a substantial portion of the labour burden in Uganda’s coffee-producing regions, both during fieldwork and in post-harvest activities. Despite their significant contributions to the country’s coffee export industry, women face barriers to having their voices heard. They encounter various challenges, including limited access to resources such as land and financial support, insufficient access to services, limited bargaining power to cultivate and sell coffee at fair prices, underrepresentation within coffee cooperatives, male dominance in profitable aspects of the coffee industry like marketing, and the disproportionate distribution of profits, with female coffee farmers earning less than their male counterparts.

The project will engage with civil society organisations, a cooperative union of coffee farmers, local government bodies, government ministries and parliamentary committees to address the injustices faced by women working in the coffee sector.

This will be achieved by:

• Supporting women in the coffee sector to form groups and associations
• Strengthening women’s knowledge on sustainable and resilient value chain systems
• Training 100 women on advocacy and negotiation skills, strengthening their ability to advance their needs and priorities
• Convening dialogues between women and local government representatives to discuss issues identified by women’s groups and associations
• Promoting women’s participation in existing decision-making spaces at local level, such as district budget meetings
• Producing a documentary and policy briefs highlighting women’s contribution to the coffee sector and the issues they face, for awareness raising and advocacy purposes.

As a result of the project, it is hoped that women will have more involvement in the coffee value chain system and related policy discussions, leading to more inclusive and equitable participation, and ultimately improving livelihoods and food security.