Women Growing Strength, Coffee, and a brighter Future
High in the coffee-growing regions of Oaxaca, where the aroma of the bean accompanies each new day, a quiet but profound transformation is taking root.
Here, women like Isabel demonstrate that coffee doesn’t grow only from the soil, it also flourishes through confidence, autonomy, and the courage to open paths once thought unreachable.
For years, many women producers have faced an invisible barrier: fear.
“What holds us back is the fear of trying something new” says Sara, a trainer for Production for well-being government program, which promotes social well-being through agroforestry and has accompanied some of the participant groups in the Sierra Sur region. “People are used to following a recipe that has always worked, and wanting to change it, or relearn something, can be overwhelming.”
Added to this is the social pressure that weighs especially on women: the fear of being judged for not staying home or for ‘neglecting’ responsibilities that were historically placed on them.
But something begins to shift when they come together in spaces created for listening, learning, and proposing new ideas. Sara describes it as a turning point:
“When we build a netw ork of trust and support, they start to feel that they can do it, that it is possible”. In Women of Coffee, they find a place to speak up, to share ideas, to take action. And when they’re ready to take the step, “everything changes.”
That spark has also reached Isabel, who once believed that there were no other paths ahead for her. “I thought that was as far as I could go… but no. I’m coming back with more drive, more strength, and I feel so happy,” she says with a smile. For Isabel, the workshops are a space to leave worries outside and let in the joy of learning, creating, and dreaming bloom again.
Women of Coffee
These voices reflect the impact of Women of Coffee (Somos Cafetaleras), a SiKanda project that supports 150 women coffee producers as they work to improve their income, access fairer markets, and strengthen their economic autonomy. In a sector historically dominated by men, these women are stepping forward to lead family businesses and face economic, environmental, and community challenges.
Through workshops, the project strengthens women’s skills in entrepreneurship, helping them improve the profitability of their activities and their overall living conditions.
The project also promotes women’s participation in decision-making by developing leadership skills, strengthening connections with public and private actors, and fostering collaboration within networks of women coffee producers.
What began among coffee plants, with doubts, fears, and inherited beliefs, has now expanded into the community as a new horizon for development.
Because when a woman carves a path forward, she never walks alone, she brings with her new opportunities for her family, her community, and the generations to come.
“Today, you too can help transform these communities with your gift.”
Every contribution is a seed that sprouts in the coffee field… and blossoms into community well-being.
