Blog Archives - Women in the world of Coffee

We all look up to strong, independent women. And Sunalini Menon is one of them! by Urvashi Malhotra

12/19/2014

Young Sunalini Menon (center)

Sunalini Menon always inspiring others

Sunalini Menon (left) and Urvashi Malhotra (right)

Motivation – it’s a multi-layered word, full of depth and emotion. It’s what keeps us going, what propels us forward and gives one the inspiration to meet the challenges that come our way.

Just as without motivation, life would be barren, the world of coffee would surely be barren without the inspiration that coffee guru, Sunalini Menon brings to the world of coffee. In a way that only she can, she has touched the lives of an entire generation of coffee professionals, cutting across countries, age and place in the coffee value chain by providing knowledge, education, support or guidance. Be it a coffee grower in Kenya, a producer in Brazil, a student in Italy or a coffee connoisseur in the USA – they have all received the Midas touch.

It is surprising then that throughout her childhood, Sunalini was a reserved and introverted child, believing that she had no skills at all. She did not as shine in school like her sister, was the worry of her family and teachers alike, and spent her time only in playing with the neighbourhood children, including the children of cowherds and flower pickers!

The turning point came in grade 5, when she was hit on her hand by her principal, for the red marks on her report card. She decided then that she would top the class exam of grade 5. In this difficult time, it was her grandfather who instilled faith in her abilities. “Sunamma, you can do it.” To everyone’s surprise, play time was substituted by studies, and every morning after sneaking a few drops of coffee into her morning milk, she would read out the English newspaper to her grandfather who would gently correct her English and gave her the encouragement she needed. Little Sunalini looked within herself and focused on her strength with the goal of topping her class. And top she did! The utterly shocked school principal was overheard asking the class teacher, “Did she copy?!” The class teacher, however, had noticed the light in the little girl’s eyes and from then on there was no looking back. She took her grandfather’s words to heart – dedication and efforts are a basic requirement, but in order to achieve something, you must be willing to share your knowledge. She also absorbed his keen observation of people, which went beyond the obvious – discerning a person’s background, their need and their motivations.

Another remarkable gentleman who inspired her was her Swiss mentor. She made her first international journey to learn from him with trepidation. A foreign country, a foreign language, but the 75-year-old surprised her. Months before she was to arrive, he spent 3 hours every day preparing to teach her by learning her language – English. These two kindly gentlemen were the ones who built the code that Sunalini lives by; perseverance, diligence and depth of knowledge.

It was a coffee grower who walked into her coffee laboratory one day and challenged her to do something she had never done before. “You have so much knowledge,” he said, “Why don’t you train and teach?” This was uncharted territory, but for Sunalini, a challenge was always hard to resist. It was an opportunity to share her considerable skills and knowledge, and she ensured that she taught in a way that was unique; drawing on the everyday experiences of people and helping them connect to the learnings that coffee has to offer. With each skilling workshop, the methods were made more innovative, ensuring that the trainee learnt what they would never forget. Combined with an acute sense of observation, this unique approach to imparting training in all aspects of coffee means that Sunalini has transformed the lives of many people and touched many more.

It was her intervention and skilling that gave Merlin, a young boy from a village from South India, the chance and the confidence to represent India in the World Barista Championship in Vienna in 2012.

And Shwetha, who was at the lowest ebb of her life, a single mother, received the inspiration and opportunity to complete successfully a 6-month Master’s degree in Coffee Economics and Science in Italy.

Innumerable people in the coffee word would bear testimony to the fact that they have experienced her Midas touch – encouraged and inspired to achieve beyond what they thought possible - Sunalini is motivation personified!

We cannot change what we are not conscious of, but once we are awake, we cannot help but change – by Rose Karimi

12/11/2014

Where are the women? Coffee Fair Trade in Kenya

Coffee trainers - men AND women

Women empowering women

WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
I happened to attend the Coffee Fair Trade held in February 2014 which was a National Conference for Stakeholders and Exhibition at the Coffee Research Foundation of Kenya. Oh my! The event was so big, but sadly there were only a few accountable young women present. One would just wonder why this kind of discrimination. Female attendance in exhibition, trainings, conferences have been very minimal. But let me point out something important: the people who receive training may necessary not be in a position to implement the skills they acquire in these trainings. Why? Because they aren't involved in the primary processes and farm level maintenance. And again, young women who are energetic and innovative are rarely involved in coffee production along the value chain. Therefore there is an urgent need to bring up more women as we empower those who are currently in our industry.

OUR COFFEE
Kenyan coffee is widely recognized for its full body, acidity and flavor fetching good price around the globe. A part from the favorable geographical conditions – thanks to the deep red volcanic soil - several women have contributed to this success through good agricultural practices. It is the role of women to carefully hand-pick ripe cherries during harvest as well as pruning and handling the manure application and at the same time, take good care of their family members. Although women contribution is HIGH, the reward is ironically LOW! They find minimal support from their community. Very few women own land. While those who have the farms only inherited them from the family lineage.

FILLING THE GAP
There are a number of women who already have been steering the positions in governmental and non-governmental organizations. Friends, experience doesn't matter. What really matters is how you interpret and react to experiences. All experiences are neutral. I am pretty sure that the scenario in our industry will only be changed by how we view issues.

THE QUITE CONFIDENCE
Yes! As mentioned earlier, we have what it takes. We only need to conquer some few elements which have dragged women behind, to make this industry a successful one. I believe that we are well capable.

It takes our determination to conquer fear, take the risk since whether things are in a serious state or not, it isn't always easy to initiate change unless we make a choice! We should make a choice to change!

If you want to learn to fly, you must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; you cannot fly into flying – by Ines Ciza

12/5/2014

Immagine

President of IWCA Burundi – Madam Isabelle Sinamenye - and women coffee farmers

During the month of August 2014, I went to visit women in the coffee industry in countryside of Burundi with members of the International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA) – the Burundi chapter - in order to encourage these ladies by asking them the problems they encounter in the coffee industry with hopes to resolve them together.

One of their main problems is they don’t have fertilizers for their coffee trees. They also added that because of this problem, they don’t harvest high quantity coffee beans. Another issue is they cannot afford the insecticides to spray on their coffee trees so as to prevent their coffee trees from being attacked by insects.

These women coffee farmers asked us to be their spokeswomen, taking their voice farther and explaining their situation to the authorities. Their hopes also included their own coffee washing stations which would allow them to get involved in the coffee industry and sell their coffee not in the cherry form, but already in the form of green coffee seeds: this would increase the amount of money they could earn for their coffee harvest.

During this visit, the president of IWCA Burundi – Madam Isabelle Sinamenye - replied saying she promises to approach the authorities with the hopes that at least one washing station managed by the government will be lent to these women coffee farmers. Madame Sinamenye also added that, despite the very big financial issues IWCA has, she hopes to find an organization that will help women in the coffee industry and optimistically hopes to find a way to purchase a washing station for these women coffee farmers.

One message was clear: Burundi needs motivated women coffee farmers who can open their minds and eyes and see the importance of being in the coffee industry. Women need to promote women in the coffee chain. Through their activities, they can improve their income, get a stronger voice and be visible in the coffee business. Madame Sinamenye concluded by encouraging these ladies to do their best, work hard so that they can be among the winners in the next Cup of Excellence contest and by winning, get more advantages.

This visit hopefully opened the eyes of these strong women and invited them to reinforce their abilities through this quiet revolution and by being visible through their own promotion.