Update: JAWiC positions women for speciality coffee market through training
Published:Monday | November 27, 2023 | 12:14 PMAvia Collinder/ - Business Writer
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Jamaican Women in Coffee is eyeing a third grant to continue its work in creating opportunity for females to wring value from their coffee farms through training. The Kingston-based group, otherwise referred to as JAWiC, says it aims to improve...
Jamaican Women in Coffee is eyeing a third grant to continue its work in creating opportunity for females to wring value from their coffee farms through training.
The Kingston-based group, otherwise referred to as JAWiC, says it aims to improve women’s participation in the coffee industry and improve the production and quality of coffee for local and international markets.
JAWiC has dealings with about 60 beneficiaries, whose average farm size spans four acres, said President and co-founder Marshalee Valentine.
“The project grant was the same and has allowed us to impact women in different coffee-producing communities: Penlyne Castle, Hagley Gap, Minto, Mavis Bank, Guava Ridge, Flamstead, to name a few. The group received CAD$21,972 from the Canada Fund Local Initiative, last year, under a programme that promotes gender equity; and a similar amount in 2021.
JAWiC utilised the funds for training in pest and disease management, harvesting, soil management, organic farming, sustainable farming, and crop nutrition.
“We also gifted the farmers with ‘care packages’ to include spray pans, fertiliser, seedlings, PH meters and record-keeping books,” said Valentine.
“The practical nature of the workshops and tools given will and have already begun improving the best practices of the farmers, which will result in improved quality and quantity of coffee being produced for sale. The record-keeping book will also allow them to manage their farm as a business,” she said.
In Jamaica, speciality coffee is produced within communities along the Blue Mountain range which covers the parishes of St Andrew, St Thomas and Portland. Within the rural coffee-farming communities of Hagley Gap, St Thomas, there are approximately 232 registered coffee farmers, of which 28 per cent are women, according to a report on JAWiC’s website.
The organisation says coffee farmers produce on fragmented plots of land with cash crops such as bananas, plantains, and vegetables, as well as the rearing of livestock. While this has diversified income and contributes to household food reserves, coffee is often neglected as a source of cash income.
The farms are also said to be characterised by poor infrastructure and limited technology.
“Preliminary research by IWCA Jamaica has found that Blue Mountain women coffee farmers are disproportionately affected by multiple stressors, including climate change, access to markets, the outmigration of labour, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic. They also have systematically lower access to resources such as finance, farming inputs, training, and information than men,” the group said.
Furthermore, even though women coffee farmers carry the double burden of household duties and farm responsibilities, remuneration for their labour and opportunities to elevate themselves along the coffee value chain are often limited.
Jamaica produces less than 0.1 per cent of global coffee traded, yet remains a key player within the international speciality market. JAWiC’s aim is to secure a bigger stake for women in the tiny market segment.
From a situational analysis it conducted in in 2019 to understand the challenges facing women coffee farmers and areas for intervention, there were requests for assistance in accessing markets, supply of farm inputs, training of women and youth, and access to technology and information.
Thirty-five women showed up for the most recent JAWiC workshop, which covered soil management, including soil classification, soil health, and the type of nutrients that are beneficial for coffee plants; and identifying, treating and managing pests and diseases such as coffee leaf rust and the coffee berry borer.
In-field training required participants to carry soil from their farm and they were shown simple techniques in identifying their soil type, conducting pH tests, and monitoring plant nutrition.
JAWiC is the national chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance.
The project ‘Strengthening the Capacity of Women Coffee Farmers in Jamaica through Training’ was developed by Dr Anne-Teresa Birthwright, research lead at JAWiC, and Dr Rose-Ann Smith, lecturer at The University of the West Indies.
The new funding being sought by the group is intended to track output by women coffee farmers.
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UPDATE: This story has been updated throught to clarify the date when the grant was received.