Executive Summary

The major goals of this program are:
1) To recruit and train 150 smallholder women coffee farmers from various regions of Costa Rica on key topics such as gender in coffee, women’s leadership, climate change adaptation, food security and business development.

2) To connect the producers with local business mentors that provide ongoing support during the project for the farmers to develop their own business projects.

3) To offer micro-grants to producers that submit successful proposals to implement business development projects.

We expect the following major outcomes:

1) 150 women coffee farmers report improved knowledge of key topics such as climate change, food security, and business development;

2) Approximately 60% of the participants receive microgrants (totaling $25,000) to finance their business projects.

3) In the long term, we expect producers will report an increase in household income as a result of the training, mentorship, and financing.

Demographics of participants 

This project serves smallholder women coffee farmers, the majority of whom own less than 5 hectares of farmland. Of this population, 80% make less than $2 a day (as of baseline), and almost 40% of the participants report that their income has decreased by 50% or more as a result of COVID-19. The average age of the producers is between 40-59 years old, with the youngest participant being as young as 23 years and the oldest participant being 73 years old.

Project Outline 

The Care Trade program will recruit 150 smallholder women who will receive training from subject matter experts on a variety of topics. From workshops such as conflict transformation, business plan development, household finance, diversification, and marketing and network management.

Bean Voyage’s holistic curriculum will guide farmers through the process of overcoming key challenges faced during the process of building successful farm businesses. Participants are then paired with local business mentors to provide support in developing their own business projects and expanding their impact. Finally, participants will submit their business proposals which will be reviewed by a grant review committee consisting of members from the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica, Starbucks Farmer Support Center, and Bean Voyage, which will grant successful applications with micro-grants to implement their projects.

The program is divided into four phases.

In the first phase, we will enroll 150 farmers into the program while training the subject matter experts on gender sensitivity. In the second phase, each farmer receives training on the following topics: Gender in Coffee & Women’s leadership, Climate Change Adaptation, Food Security & Diversification, and Business Development. During a period of 18 weeks, participants receive training on a weekly basis, consisting of virtual lessons and in-person workshops. In the third phase, participants work with their mentors to develop a final deliverable in the form of a lean canvas business proposal that is submitted to receive a micro-grant to implement farm improvement projects. The program concludes with a graduation ceremony where the top productive business ideas will be presented and financed, along with a certificate distribution ceremony. In the fourth phase, we will closely monitor the progress of each business project and collect quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the impact of this program on their business revenue and household income.

Program Collaborators