impact
If smallholder women farmers are equipped with the training, capital, and market connections, then, they will drive their communities toward a thriving future.
challenges
cultural barriers
Women in the coffee industry often encounter deep-seated cultural obstacles when they aim for leadership roles, hindering their progress.
Women struggle to access capital, which makes it hard for them to invest in and expand their coffee businesses.
limited access to training
A lack of effective connections to markets limits women's ability to reach wider audiences and maximize their product potential.
lack of market links
Women face a shortage of access to education and training, making it tough for them to secure higher-paying contracts that require certifications and standard practices.
lack of access to capital
our approach
Our Resilient Communities Initiative exclusively targets female farmers with a 12-month program covering quality analysis, market readiness, and more.
Women-centered programming is designed to dismantle cultural dynamics.
Training can only be effective if capital is available to make adaptations and improvements. We provide seed-funding that enables participants to implement the learnings from our trainings.
The Women-Powered Coffee Summit centers smallholder female producers in contract negotiations, addressing their underrepresentation.
return on investment
ROI is a standard financial calculation intended to convey the financial outcome of an investment. It calculates this by taking the net profit of an investment and dividing it by the cost of an intervention.
Here is how we calculate Return on Investment:
$ Farmer Profits After BV - $ Farmer Profits Before BV / $ BV Programming Costs = $ Return on Investment
Interpretation: For every dollar invested in Bean Voyage programming, there is $4.5 USD of increase in farmers’ profits
Impact In Action
1197
number of farmers enrolled
$85,800
distributed in seed funds to support farmer-led projects.
$606,000
generated in farm-gate revenue by farmers at 2x higher prices than fair trade minimums.
4190+
community members reached in Costa Rica and Mexico.
1:4
social return on investment within the first 12 months of receiving a small grant from Bean Voyage.
89%
of participants report feeling greater agency post-program.
thriving business index
The Thriving Business Index captures program impacts that cannot be assigned a monetary value. The index is calculated through an annual impact survey that measures the following elements that form the definition of a thriving business.
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Job readiness and skills development
Access to education
Work conditions
Knowledge
Access to mentorship
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Curiosity
Control of time
Decision making
Pride
Leadership
Safety
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Ownership
Fair price
Changes in farmer profits
Reduction in financial stress
Satisfaction
Ability to save
Nutrition and hunger reduction
Our Voyage So Far
We have grown from a 16-person pilot in 2016 to directly reaching more than 900 women today, and we have plans to significantly grow our impact while decreasing what it costs us to reach each woman.