Gender, Fair-trade and Grassroots Action - the Experience of Nicaraguan Coffee Coops

The author finds that as coffee cooperatives have become more successful in Nicaragua, gender roles have begun to change and this in turn is contributing to greater stability and different forms of economic and social action. In order to explore this the author looks at coffee cooperatives that have a formal gender policy. Within these cooperatives, women have access to finance, marketing and participation in training activities. Rules include that coffee must be grown on women’s land and credits and loans are paid directly to women. The author finds that women’s increased work opportunities created more equality within families and strengthened women’s position in the household. Moreover, the author found that men’s contribution to domestic work increased as a result of an increase in female employment. Furthermore women’s health improved as cooperatives were providing heath checks for women. The author further found that these initiatives of gender awareness were spreading to other cooperatives in the area.
Although trade liberalisation itself has little direct effect on these cooperatives as they deal with fair trade movement and donors directly, this article is important as it demonstrates how the use of gender policy within the coffee production in Nicaragua has benefited women. Furthermore, due to these benefits, women who previously would have migrated to the maquiladora industries in Nicaraguan cities are able to remain with their families. This case study provided by the author, demonstrates that gender projects and needs do come through at the grass roots micro level and is a crucial element in promoting sustainable development