International Coffee Day was established in 2014 by the International Coffee Organization (ICO) to build awareness and recognition for the coffee sector’s many stakeholders across the globe. Each year, the day is used to highlight the significance of the multitude of individuals and communities involved in the coffee sector, from farmers to baristas and coffee shop workers. Importantly, it provides an opportunity for both coffee lovers and the retail coffee sector to support the millions of farmers and communities whose livelihoods depend on the coffee industry.

Creating a sustainable future for coffee is intrinsically linked to the care and well-being of the farmers and communities that grow coffee around the world. Improving the livelihoods, health and economic status of coffee-growing communities is a critical part of enabling a sustainable future for coffee, particularly when an investment is made into the women and girls of these communities.

The International Coffee Organization estimates that up to 70 percent of the labor in coffee production is provided by women, depending on the region. Despite the significant role women play in the coffee value chain, women from coffee producing communities often face environmental obstacles, such as limited access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and a lack of knowledge on improving their long-term economic status.

Global Water Challenge’s partnership with The Starbucks Foundation in Tanzania is a prime example of how organizations can play a critical role in positively transforming the lives of women from coffee- and tea-growing communities.  

Africa forms part of the key coffee producing markets in the world, with Tanzania as a significant producer of coffee in east Africa. Women from coffee- and tea-growing communities in Tanzania face complex socio-economic and environmental challenges, creating obstacles to building healthy and financially sustainable livelihoods.

Emerysiana lives in Njombe village, a coffee- and tea-growing community situated in Tanzania’s southern highlands in east Africa. Although women in her community are engaged in small scale coffee growing activities, they often lack the depth of skills to broaden the spectrum of their income generating enterprises. Emerysiana generates an income by selling vegetables at her local market and is the chairperson of Tumaini, a women’s entrepreneurs group created to support her community’s small-scale business efforts.

Through Global Water Challenge’s (GWC) high impact partnership with The Starbucks Foundation, developed to empower women and girls in coffee- and tea-growing communities in east Africa, Emerysiana recently received entrepreneurial and financial literacy training alongside her fellow group members. In the training, she developed marketing and entrepreneurial skills and learned about group management and record keeping. Emerysiana says, “Before the training we were unsure of how to properly manage our records. We would write on loose papers and after a few months, those notes were misplaced. We are proud that after this training, we have learned how to keep our financial and non-financial records in a well-organized manner unlike before.”

GWC and The Starbucks Foundation’s projects in Tanzania form part of activities launched in 2021 through the partnership in support of the goal to positively impact 1 million women and girls in “origin communities”(coffee-and-tea growing communities where Starbucks source their products from) by 2030.

The project has a multi-pronged approach to tackling critical needs, such as community health and well-being, through improved access to WASH. This includes a targeted focus on women’s empowerment by establishing entrepreneurship groups, promoting women’s leadership and training on entrepreneurship skills and financial literacy that will support income-generating activities for an estimated 14,000 women and girls in Tanzania.

International Coffee Day on October 1st is an occasion to celebrate coffee as a beverage, but it also presents a meaningful opportunity to spotlight the purpose driven and impactful ways partnered initiatives can have a huge impact in coffee-growing communities.

Our partnership with The Starbucks Foundation is addressing critical socio-economic needs through entrepreneurship training, WASH and development of income-generating activities for women like Emerysiana. Through the training received from the projects, we are enabling better health and economic outcomes for the women in Tanzania, and they are being empowered with transferable skills that will have a far-reaching impact across their communities.