Empowering Burundi’s Women Producers
As a woman-owned company, we prioritize supporting not only women in the U.S., but women all over the world. Though they make up almost 70% of the manual labor on coffee farms, women coffee producers are often overlooked when it comes to decision-making, trading, and business ownership. Coffee farmers in general are already vulnerable to low pay, food scarcity, and limited legal protection, but women coffee producers are even more at risk than their male counterparts. At Grand Paradé, our priority is our farmers -- especially women farmers. This is why we offer a wide variety of coffees produced exclusively by women: including this one from the Burundi Gatukuza Women Co-op, a pioneering women’s empowerment group. The Burundi Kayanza Gatukuza women is made up of over 500 small-holder farmers, whom we’ve partnered with directly to ensure they’re receiving fair wages and the tools and training they need to not only survive, but thrive.
As with all of our coffees, our Burundi coffee is reflective of our farmer-centered approach. We’re dedicated to paying our farmers premium prices and helping them remain resilient in the face of a climate crisis that puts their livelihoods at stake -- by training them on climate-resilient practices, such as the planting of shade trees to protect their crops, utilizing freshwater irrigation, and growing alternative crops (such as maize and bananas) to diversify their revenue streams. We’ve also funded schools and other community projects, with a focus on empowering women and children, because we believe that uplifting them is beneficial for everyone.