GLOBAL COFFEEPLATFORM

Coffee companies interested in taking action toward a more resilient supply chain now have access to new tools that support gender equity. Two tools—An Engagement Guide for Gender Equity in Coffee, and The Common Measurement Framework (CMF) for Strengthening Gender Equity in the Coffee Value Chain—work in tandem to address industry questions and support them to take actions that advance gender equity in the coffee value chain. The tools were developed by the CQI Partnership for Gender Equity (PGE), with support from the Global Coffee Platform (GCP), and relied on considerable stakeholder input in their design over the past year.

The Engagement Guide for Gender Equity in the Coffee Sector provides a roadmap and resources for industry actors to engage in conversations about gender equity and identify actions to support gender equity in their own organizations and with supply chain partners. Based on evidence about gender integration in agriculture, it shares success stories, lessons learned, and good practices from coffee businesses and actors. Companies from across the sector provided samples of their work as reference for the guide, and a core group of eight individuals formed a Technical Advisory Group, which provided targeted feedback to ensure relevance of the guide’s content.

What is the Common Measurement Framework?

The CMF allows coffee industry actors to learn about gender differences in their programs and supply chains. Building on the hypothesis presented above, the CMF focuses on indicators that measure conditions that inhibit full participation of both men and women and maximize effective performance of the coffee value chain. When applied over time, the CMF results will help users to learn whether their efforts to support gender equity are working and, if so, to what extent.

The CMF is linked to the Sustainable Progress Framework developed by GCP and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge. Nearly 20 companies participated in a validation effort over the past several months, drawing on their activities in Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants shared their experiences with the indicators and their perceived challenges and opportunities to adopt the indicators in the future.

What is the role of the CQI Partnership for Gender Equity

The coffee industry has demonstrated a noteworthy commitment to collective action and collaborative initiatives that drive resiliency and sustainability at origin. PGE builds on these efforts and provides the industry with a process for learning across varying initiatives, and developing shared tools and frameworks for engagement and measurement. PGE’s work addresses access to and benefits from interventions in coffee supply chain activities that lead to a greater return on investment for households, producer organizations, and the end market. The advent of these new tools now provides a stronger foundation for advancing the collaborative efforts of the industry and the work of PGE for greater collective impact.

In 2015 PGE, an initiative of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), published its ground-breaking research targeted at the coffee sector. The Way Forward spurred significant interest and momentum on the issue of gender equity, and laid an initial business case that investing in gender equity is good for people and good for business. However, until now, companies have had questions about how to get involved and how gender equity can bolster the impact of interventions at origin or in supply chain investments.

About the CQI Partnership for Gender Equity

The Partnership for Gender Equity (PGE), an initiative of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), was created in 2014 as a collaborative research and development initiative to better understand the link between gender equity and supply chain resilience and determine the best way to respond. PGE brings together a diverse array of industry and development partners to actively support gender equity in order to improve the quality of producers’ lives and the sustainable supply of quality coffee. Visit www.coffeeinstitute.org or www.genderincoffee.org for more information.

What’s the next step if you want to get involved?

The Global Coffee Platform will host a webinar next 8th of March 3 pm CET in which all your answers could be addressed.

Kimberly Easson (the CQI Partnership for Gender Equity) will introduce the new tools and explain how they can generate positive impact in your business.

Register to the webinar here