GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, March 8th, 2018 – Today is International Women’s Day, a day we get to celebrate noticeable achievements of Women worldwide – whether they were social, cultural, economic or political.
Women play a major role in all industries, particularly in the future of the Coffee world. To this end, as part of its Sustainability activities, Sucafina announced back in 2017 a partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), which aimed at empowering woman coffee producers in Rwanda and strengthening their participation at all levels of the supply chain.
The focal point of the project is the Sake Farm managed by Ms. Marie Laetitia Kayitesire. It is located in the Eastern Province of Rwanda and supports 2,200 farmers in the surrounding area.
Through JDE’s financial contribution, ITC and the Kahawatu Foundation (Sucafina’s Sustainability implementer) managed to improve the technical infrastructure at the plantation and its processing unit. The said project seeks to strengthen the relationships between Sake Farm and surrounding farmers, as well as increase the quality and quantity of the coffee produced in the future.
Ms. Kayitesire planted the first coffee trees on her plantation in 1999 and today these trees are of the Arabica Bourbon variety. In 2003, with support from USAID, Ms. Kayitesire secured an investment to build a coffee washing station capable of processing 450 tons of cherries per year from both the Sake Farm plantation and the surrounding smallholder farmers.
In addition to running Sake Farm, Ms. Kayitesire is also a board member of the Rwanda chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and a member of She Trades, ITC’s initiative to enhance the empowerment and competitiveness of women entrepreneurs.
Thanks to Ms. Kayitesire’s dedication and hard work, Sake Farm has become an important source of income for people in the surrounding area, both as a market for their coffee and by providing employment. Today, the smallholder farmers rely heavily on Sake Farm to provide information on improved agricultural practices.
David Behrends, Managing Partner and Head of Trading at Sucafina, said: “Sucafina recognizes that economic empowerment of women’s groups such as Sake Farm are vital toward increasing smallholder farmer income levels. We are proud to be able to partner with Kahawatu, ITC, and JDE in supporting this initiative and being able to help contribute to the vibrant coffee communities that are at the core of our business.”
Ms. Kayitesire does not only represent herself but also all the strong and dedicated women out there, who are working hard every day to prove themselves and make a change.