We love Café Femenino, this our third, following on from Peru, then Sumatra. Jim and I ‘blind’ sampled quite a few coffees and together felt this coffee was definitely worth buying. Despite geographical isolation, harsh terrain and a cultural lower status in society, the Bolivian coffee women have improved their lives, future prospects, and the community’s health. In 2009 these women coffee growers separated their work from the men’s and started their Café Femenino Program. The first achievement was having their names on the land titles, so even if abandoned or widowed they keep the land. A powerful means of creating self-esteem in a land accustomed to seeing women as servants to their husbands. These changes have raised their societal position of inferiority to now viewing themselves as businesswomen in control of community resources.
