Olam is committed to ensuring gender equality throughout our value chain – from our plantations and farms, to the processing units, offices and senior management. This includes wages, opportunity for promotion and training.
In Brazil there are currently no statistics on gender distribution in coffee farms. In many cases women are hidden in the coffee fields, and often lack a 'voice' when it comes to important issues and decisions related to the farm. Olam felt it was time to correct this imbalance and ensure women played a bigger role in the future.
The project in Paraná is about taking action and creating change. Olam and its project partners (IWCA and Emater PR (Public Company)), offer both Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) and women empowerment sessions for over 350 female coffee growers. Olam is proud to say that four project participants have already won Coffee Quality Awards of the State. We know women already excel in a variety of roles such as the coffee drying process, which is crucial for coffee quality. Additionally, women often perform better than men in areas like: Quality & Cost Management, Traceability and Succession Planning.
Our aim through these projects is to create a culture of equality wherever possible and advance the rights of women. We will continue to help change attitudes and shift perceptions, and show how equality, with its positive business and social impacts, can benefit everyone.