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Honoring the Women who Feed the World

Trade is not fair until it includes all people.

sumatrawomen
sumatrawomen

Community builders, co-op leaders, coffee growers, poem writers, singers who hold the voices of ancestors in their song, seed planters, mothers who water their gardens while carrying children on their backs – women.  

Women – the indispensable force in family, in policy, in decision-making and on smallholder farms around the world.   

We at Fairtrade recognize the unquantifiable value that women bring to the table whether it’s good company, incredible stories, a warm cooked meal or even the growth of the actual food itself.  We honor women by protecting and amplifying their voice in farming communities around the world because we know that engaging women in agriculture is crucial to creating equitable trade systems and to feeding the world.  That’s why supporting gender equality is built into every aspect of the Fairtrade system, from our standards to our programmatic work and our direct farmer support.  We don't just take steps to make sure we reach women workers, we work so that all women workers have the agency to express their voice and choice when it comes to their farms, their businesses, their families, their communities and their future.

Women in Agriculture

Around the globe, women are more likely than men to reinvest their earned income back into their families. Whether it be for food, school supplies, household basics or the magic of turning a house into a home, as a woman is elevated, so she elevates the world around her. When a woman’s earnings increase, her families’ nutrition increases, the family’s welfare increases and the children’s school performance increases. Closing the gender productivity and wage gaps in agrifood systems would increase global GDP by nearly USD $1 trillion and reduce food insecurity by ~45 million people. “Empowering women means that the entire family benefits… the entire community benefits… the entire country benefits and ultimately the entire world benefits.” (World Food Program Executive Director Ertharin Cousin)
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Women’s School of Leadership

The Women’s School of Leadership (WSOL) is a Fairtrade approach focused on building women’s leadership and technical skills on three interconnected levels – the individual, the workplace and the community - and offers training and mentorship on topics such as human rights, gender equality, self-confidence, financial management, cooperation and negotiation skills. The program, which began in 2017 with 22 participants in cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire, has expanded to tea, sugar and flower sectors across the globe in 20 countries including in Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana and Kenya. This unique, transformative approach provides women with direct training and mentorship on financial management and negotiation skills to build their self-confidence. In addition, WSOL integrates male engagement by bringing together women and men farmers to break down harmful gender norms through training on human rights and gender equality. More than 8,000 women graduates complete the training with both the skills and enabling environment to make decisions, manage resources and efficiently take on leadership roles within their cooperatives and communities.
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“Women School of Leadership made me to realize my potential. I never thought I would ever be a supervisor. I thought that the role was for people better than myself. But through training and change of attitude, I can be counted amongst the supervisors in our farm. This makes me proud.”

Agripina Gakii, Flower worker, Equinox Horticulture

  • 70 %
    of the approximately 700 million people, who live in extreme poverty (living on less than $2.15) a day are women.
  • 40%
    of the global agricultural force is made up of women, 50% in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
  • 78 cents
    Despite women’s contributions to agriculture globally, they earn 78 cents for every $1 their male counterparts earn.
  • 10-20%
    Studies in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia show that allocating land, labor, capital and fertilizer equally between men and women could raise agricultural output by 10–20%.
Women at Work are Undervalued

Fast Facts

Women’s work in agriculture is undervalued due to entrenched gender norms that leave women with less access to resources such as land, finance, education and technology. Even when women are able to secure access to resources, they often do not have decision-making power within their cooperatives or household to make decisions over what to plant, how to use the harvest or how to spend the income earned from their labor.

Learn Women's Equity in the Fairtrade System

Fairtrade Women Farmers Making History

  • Assata Doumbia Koné

  • Ibu Rahmah

  • Rosine Bekoin

  • Olga Alvarado

"Now I say to myself I can do anything I want. I've learned to believe in myself and believe that I will be able to make it”. says Zoila Coto, member of El Sunza Cooperative. She has been part of CLAC´s women´s school for leadership and empowerment.

The elevation, recognition and voice of the women who feed the world is a non-negotiable.  

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