This week, I have had the privilege to speak with Abhi from Bean Voyage in Costa Rica
and more with Lucia Bawot, who we have featured before. They both speak of documented gender related issues in reaching market and maintaining a competitive edge. Many of these barriers to entry are exacerbated by mental health issues that are intricately tied to and driven by these barriers.
I mentioned some of the barriers last week, this week, I would like to mention one so
few of us in North America overtly face, although it certainly continues in many covert
forms in our society. This particular barrier is an outcropping of the ‘old’ coverture, which
fundamentally states a man is the ‘cover’ for his wife and thus, in many ways under
these laws, the wife had no or very limited legal rights. This ideology is still lived out in
some Central American countries and African coffee growing regions. Even though the
farm may legally belong to the wife, they may not be allowed to sell the product at
market under her own name. It must be sold in the name of her husband. He will, then,
receive payment for the goods sold. Culturally, it is often the male who will receive
accolades and compensation for work performed, when in actuality, it was the female
who performed much of said work. I have been given reports of this in the Guatemalan growing regions and very frequently hear of it in the Colombian landscape. Accompanying this approach to payment, the reports in Colombia have been that often the male recipient of the funds uses it to imbibe, as well as participate in activities that become detrimental to the stability of the family and the farm. With these abuses come mental health issues which impede productivity for female producers and their family members who depend upon them. Mental health issues often coming to the forefront in these types of scenarios are deep grief, depression and anxiety. The loss faced by so many is profound, not simply in terms of economy, but in terms of physical safety, food security, autonomy, authority, self-confidence and access to resources beyond those which provide solely economically. The fortitude these women demonstrate in continuing to move forward in the face of these challenges is quite simply remarkable.
One of the issues, I would like to begin to evaluate in working with female coffee
producers is: how exactly is their work life impeded due to these economic abuses?
And do these impediments mirror those I have found in my work with women here in the
U.S.? If so, how can we begin to encourage and help make change for the sake of the
health of entire families?
To that end, Ana Donneys coffee from Primitivo has arrived this last week!!! I am
excited to offer it to you with an added bonus: for every purchase you make of
her coffee, we will donate 10% to the research work of Lucia Bawot and the Colombian Chapter of IWCA, which is an organization working to the betterment of female coffee growers in Colombia.
Thanks again for joining us on El Camino!
Ronda
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