The Village

When it comes to producing exceptional coffee, it truly takes a village. Women are a tremendously influential part of the global coffee community, making up 70% of the labor in field work and harvesting—detail-oriented roles which ultimately translate to excellence in the cup. However, women face steep challenges when it comes to equitable access to career growth, land, education, and credit, representing just 20-30% of farm ownership.

The Village is a celebration of women in coffee, composed of seasonally-rotating selections from valued relationships with female producers and cooperatives, aimed at highlighting and addressing this gender gap. According to strong research, investing in women increases the sustainability of coffee everywhere—women are more likely to reinvest their income back into their families, their coffee businesses, and their communities. And when access to decision-making and the global marketplace improves for women farmers, quality improves too.

Currently, The Village features the Atnago Women's Cooperative from Limu Seka, Oromia, Ethiopia. 

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Limu Seka, Oromia, EthiopiaType

Single Origin

Roast 

Light

Origin

Limu Seka, Oromia, Ethiopia

Producer

Atngao Women's Cooperative

Variety

74110, 74112, 74148, 74165, 75227 and local

Elevation

1850-2100 MASL

Process

Washed
Atnago Women's Cooperative

Atnago Women's Cooperative

The Atnago cooperative of women was founded in 2014, though the group of farmers within the coop have been growing coffee for over 30 years. They have only organized to segregate, process, and market their coffee for the last 10 years. Through support byexporter Fahem, the farmers also receive technical assistance by agronomists who have been assigned specifically to them, as well as training and awareness building of topics related to child labor, forced labor, discrimination, and harassment. As holders of a Rainforest Alliance certificate, they also have female representatives on committees for Assess and Address, Gender Awareness, and Grievances. Fahem is responsible for purchasing the coffee directly from the farmers, as well as paying a separate “dividend” payment each year. Additionally, over the last 10 years, the group has been able to pay for two flour mills and one elementary school in their community. The group is working on addressing the challenges the farmers share to be able to maximize their yield. These include increased farm tools (matchet, hoe, pruning saw, pruning shear, flat file and coffee cherry drying mesh wire), access to finance (for school fees, students’ uniforms, and learning materials), and reducing the time required for domestic responsibilities that compete with coffee farming (such as collecting water and fire wood far away from where they live).


We are very grateful for the opportunity to better understand how gender equity looks differently in different places. For us at Joe, when it comes to these complex and far-reaching issues, we feel
the responsibility to both educate and be educated ourselves. It’s important for us to rely on strong logistics partners to give us context for their work and insight into what sustainability looks like for all parties in a supply stream. In order for all of us to be strong and thrive, we rely on open communication so we can collectively learn how to be the best business partners we can be. The result keeps us accountable to each other and our shared future. Because of their commitment to transparency and active partnership, we choose to partner with Artisan Coffee Imports for many years to come.

Meet Erica Zeledón Salazar

Meet Erica Zeledón Salazar

As a product that features seasonally rotating coffees from valued relationships with female producers, we hoped to reflect the diversity of stories and perspectives as well as origins in the label artwork. To do so, we had the privilege of working with the incredible Costa Rica-based illustrator, Erica Zeledón Salazar to bring the concept to life. We were drawn to her use of vibrant colors and texture, as well as how she uses symbolic elements to connect her ideas to the natural world.

We had a chance to speak to Erica about what inspires her work, and specifically the design for The Village.

"Nature has the ability to be a source of constant creation and transmutation—in it, we can find such microscopic elements that are difficult to see with the naked eye, as well as large bodies that make you feel so small—each and every one of them essential and important in the cycles of life. At the end of the day, everything is connected and those connections are what catch my attention completely."