By: Staff Writer
May 21, 2021
The head of the Jamaican Women in Coffee organisation says that women need more opportunities and support for grant funding in the agri-business landscape.
Andrea Johnson, president and co-founder of JAWIC, told Caribbean Magazine Plus after having seen Jamaica’s Coffee Solutions Ltd and its chief executive officer, Basil Jones, be successful in accessing grant funding from the Caribbean Export Development Agency’s (CEDA) Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) that: “Most times women are not invited to these opportunities or don’t network in circles which they are made aware of these opportunities.”
Ms Johnson is continuing her advocacy for women in the agri-business and coffee arena in Jamaica despite the odds however, and her JAWIC has grown to a group of 67 women including a volunteer board of seven.
Ms Johnson also said: “There are organizations like IWCA www.womenincoffee.org of which JAWIC is a member but most I would say no to women having enough support in the coffee business. The issues most women farmers face are systemic and need to be addressed on a local level. Globally we have ICO (International Coffee Organisation). Regionally there is no inter government agency that is focused on growing the coffee policy nor is there an organization really connecting producers or other industry verticals within the coffee sector.”
The coffee business is hard work says Ms Johnson and she wants women in the business to focus on the network of female coffee growers in order to keep motivated on what can be achieved in the business, “Don’t give up,” she says.
The JAWIC is not giving up at all and in their 2020 report they listed several initiatives they have completed and are undertaking for the 2021 and beyond.
Describing their “Higher Ground” project as “ground-breaking,” Ms Johnson also said some of the challenges the report detailed that are facing women in the industry: The first being is the low farm-gate price being paid by coffee processors, something the report described as having “great socio-economic consequences,” for women farmers. A box of coffee for women can fetch between $3,000 and $4,000 JSD, or the equivalent of $20 to $25 USD.
Another challenge women face is the high production cost as the work can become very labour intensive when compared to the “meagre” price per box of coffee, making the business unsustainable for women to continue on successfully.
The report also noted that financial challenges have also been compounded by changing climatic patterns, and the impacts of pests and diseases. It is difficult, and somewhat impossible to separate the impacts of climatic and economic challenges, as both have dually affected the livelihoods of those dependent on the coffee industry.
“The unavailability of financing have hindered the ability of farmers to combat various climatic stressors and outbreaks. Hence, the period for timely interventions and recovery is often impacted.”
JAWIC seeks to connect women in coffee, to recognize women’s contributions to the industry and to empower a sustainable, equitable future.
By developing and nurturing a supportive community, we will use our collective strength to catalyse positive change in the coffee industry and is a registered charitable organisation in Jamaica.