Bean Voyage Celebrates Grant from The Starbucks Foundation to Empower Women Coffee Farmers
San Jose, Costa Rica - In honor of International Women's Day on March 8, 2023, Bean Voyage is thrilled to announce that it has received a generous grant from The Starbucks Foundation to support its flagship program empowering 150 smallholder women coffee farmers in Costa Rica. This project will provide essential tools and resources for food security, gender equality, and business development while fostering peer mentorship opportunities between past program participants and the farmers. Additionally, Bean Voyage will offer seed-grants to top business proposals from participants, encouraging the farmers to develop income diversification projects to contribute towards a thriving livelihood.
Starting in March 2023, the program will enroll participants from coffee-producing communities, with two local youth recruited to facilitate training. Between May to August 2023, the farmers will receive in-person training sessions with weekly support for successful learning experiences. The curriculum will cover crucial topics such as gender equality, diet, hygiene, access to water, beekeeping, hen keeping, home gardening, food forest, building business models, budgeting and financial management.
Between September and October 2023, the farmers will receive mentorship and training on business proposal development and engage in peer-mentorship sessions with past participants of Bean Voyage's Programs. In November 2023, a selection committee will review the business proposals and select farmers who will receive seed-grant awards with a total of $25,000. The graduation ceremony will take place in November 2023, where all farmers will be awarded a certificate for completion, and the top business ideas will be provided an opportunity to present and be awarded seed-grants. Bean Voyage will provide on-site follow-up to farmers who received seed-grants as they implement their plans. Finally, from January to April 2024, Bean Voyage will visit each project site to monitor, evaluate, and measure the long-term impact for farmers and communities.
Bean Voyage is thrilled to collaborate with Starbucks' local cooperative partners across the country to make this project a reality. "We are honored to have received this grant from The Starbucks Foundation to continue the growth of our flagship program," said Sunghee Tark, Co-Founder of Bean Voyage. "Empowering women coffee farmers and promoting gender equality in Costa Rica's coffee-producing communities is critical work, and we are honored to be accompanying them in their voyage as they develop thriving businesses and improve their livelihoods."
The Starbucks Foundation has been a vital partner of Bean Voyage since 2021, supporting the Care Trade Model, which bundles training, mentorship, and financial support for farmers to develop income-diversifying activities at the farm level. Thus far, the partnership between The Starbucks Foundation and Bean Voyage has empowered 250 farmers in Costa Rica, granting 92 of them with access to seed-grants (average size of $440 per farmer) to implement business projects such as hen keeping, beekeeping, home gardening, and coffee tourism. On average, a farmer generates four times the investment made by this initiative in less than 12 months of receiving a seed-granting, carving a path towards thriving businesses, improving their access to food and leading their communities towards a sustainable future.
The Starbucks Foundation’s grants to Bean Voyage are part of its goal to positively impact 1 million women and girls in coffee-, tea- and cocoa-growing communities around the world by 2030. “Through our Origin Grants, we’re helping to create opportunities and promote more equitable access to resources that enable women to improve their lives and livelihoods,” said Alicia Vermaele, executive director of The Starbucks Foundation. “We know that when we invest in a woman, we uplift not only that woman, but also her family and her community – leading to a brighter future for all.”
Bean Voyage and The Starbucks Foundation remain committed to supporting women farmers and promoting resilient, equitable and sustainable communities. Together, we believe that women are key in leading their own communities towards a brighter future in Costa Rica and around the world.
For press questions please contact:
Bean Voyage
Abhinav Khanal, Executive Director
Starbucks
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About The Starbucks Foundation: The Starbucks Foundation’s mission is to strengthen humanity by transforming lives across the world, with a focus on enabling community resiliency and prosperity and uplifting communities affected by disaster. The Starbucks Foundation has invested more than $25 million in programs that strengthen coffee and tea-growing communities since its founding and has committed to positively impact 1 million women and girls in origin communities by 2030.
About Bean Voyage: Bean Voyage is a feminist organization building thriving businesses with smallholder women coffee farmers. Operating since 2017, Bean Voyage provides a bundle of services, consisting of training, mentorship, financing and global market access to smallholder women coffee farmers in Costa Rica and Mexico.
