Claire on her farm with a beautiful harvest of coffee cherries

Claire participating in coffee training and development programmes

Alliance of Women in Coffee has played a key role in Claire's journey

In the heart of coffee growing region county of Murang'a (Kenya), there is a big beautiful coffee plantation. This farm is owned by a very strong determined woman who took up the farm after the death of her husband.

Mrs. Claire Dusabe Nsanzimana came to Kenya from Rwanda in 1995 with her father. She finished only a year in the university before dropping out. This is where she met her husband, who worked as a manager in a flower company in the Rift Valley part of Kenya.

In 2001 they migrated to Nairobi with their children. Here, in the capital city of Kenya, he was involved in an insurance business. Having been brought up on a coffee farm, he had a burning desire that led him to go back to what he was passionate about...coffee! Mr. Nsanzimana bought the Whitestone coffee estate which housed a large coffee plantation. He invested much in his coffee farm, but he was a happy farmer since the trees gave him good returns.

Claire’s aspiration was to become an international diplomat. Therefore, she joined the Catholic University of East Africa in 2003 in order to obtain her degree and later, in 2008, she pursued her Master’s degree in International Relations and Peace Studies.

In 2010, her husband became sick. His health deteriorated and he passed on in that same year.

Life for Claire was never the same again. She had no clue in which direction to turn. She had no job, a big farm with no idea where to actually begin.

The first big drop in production was experienced in 2011 by about 80%. This was a big blow for Claire, who was still mourning the death of her husband.

But wait a minute…she was not willing to give in to the situation that was pulling her down, to a moment that was crushing and tearing her apart.

Now, when I met Claire on June 16th 2015 she really inspired me by how patient she had been.  She had to endure a tough transition from a pampered wife to a widow. She also had to endure the big financial fluctuations from their coffee farm and above all, coping in a foreign land among other tough moments.

The Coffee Management Services is a body that is involved in offering farm management services to the coffee industry and it has really supported her to transform the coffee trees which had declined in production.

Joining the Alliance of Women in Coffee (AWIC) Kenya Chapter has also played a key role in Claire's journey in the World of coffee through training and development programmes. Believe me, Claire today is a very successful woman, who is determined and very passionate to change things around her.

It has been said that what we were, what we have been, and what we intend to be, is shown more in endurance than any other virtue. She indeed remains a perfect example to the women around her. Her coffee trees have now begun to pick up in production again. This is expected to give even more returns this year compared to 2010....and all thanks to Claire's endurance and her strong personality!

“Investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity and sustained economic growth. Investing in women is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do”.
By Ban-Ki-Moon, General Secretary, United States.

Around the world, women play a major role in the production of coffee. Despite this fact, women tend to have little control over the harvest proceeds. Women producers have little access to productive resources, including land, credit and inputs, and women’s roles in actual coffee marketing and trade in most countries is extremely limited. Women are often marginalized from the sector decision-making processes that affect them.

Research shows that increased access to resources for women, particularly in the agricultural industry, has great effects on education, health, nutrition as well as on poverty reduction. For women, - and thus also for families and communities – to thrive, barriers to women fulfilling their potential in the economic and commercial activities need to be overcome.

Access to information, credit, infrastructures, and other business development services are required to ensure women’s involvement in decision-making processes. Awareness, training and networking are crucial to strengthen women’s voices in the coffee sector.

Perhaps the most opportune way to advance women and promote women’s rights in the coffee sector is through women’s associations, in which there is a joint agreement on objectives, where issues and matters of particular interest to women can be discussed freely, and where there is an absence of peer pressure.

Many national women’s associations have emerged since 2002 in order to express what women have endured for a very long time, to awaken other women in the coffee industry to take a stand and fight for their rights for empowerment in the coffee industry. It is time that women get the recognition they deserve, especially after what they have endured for so many years in the coffee industry.

Renuka being trained through the Coffee Board of India

Renuka helping coffee growers learn about their product

Renuka imparting training with Mrs. Sunalini Menon

It happened quite by chance that Ms Renuka Gangadhar came into the world of coffee. As a grade 8 student, she was introduced to coffee by a trainee teacher who brought into the classroom a coffee plant, a coffee maker and some coffee berries to showcase the coffee making process. The interaction piqued her curiosity and the bright young Renuka had a lot of questions to ask!

It was only many years later, after she had completed her masters in the field of nutrition and had worked for a few years in education and primary health care that an advertisement in the newspaper brought her into contact with the Coffee Board of India. Sensory evaluation had already been a part of her training and Renuka got the job of a coffee taster!

Through the Coffee Board, Renuka was part of the team that travelled across 8 countries sponsored by the International Trade Centre, visiting Croydon, Oslo, and finally training at Hamburg.

She travelled to the coffee growing regions in India and was part of the technical committee that would advise the growers on how to dry, how to store, cure and other aspects along coffee value chain. Those were the days in which all growers sold all their produce to the Coffee Board and so it was up to the Coffee Board to ensure that each grade of coffee was uniformly managed, since produce from several coffee farms would come to the Coffee Board to categorize and sell in the world market.

When India liberalized coffee in 1995, it was a historic moment that changed the way coffee was sold from the country. Mrs Sunalini Menon started Coffee Lab and Renuka became an integral part of the Coffee Lab team. Illycaffè’s Università del Caffè holds a special place in the memory for Renuka. It had illycaffè and Coffee Lab partnering to educate growers across Chikmagalur, Hassan, Coorg Sakleshpur etc. about producing coffee that would meet international standards. It was a mobile classroom and all training material and the trainers travelled extensively, booking halls, providing training in batches, analysing samples and giving advice on what can be done differently.

Coffee Lab’s contribution to the world of Indian coffee is monumental and Renuka has been part of it from the start, being involved in coffee grading, cupping and helping to select the right coffee to be sent to coffee giants across the world.

The world of Indian coffee has been revolutionized, world markets and tastes in coffee have changed and the domestic coffee market has transformed. Through all these changes, Renuka’s career and contributions to coffee have endured for 35 years. In the fickle world that we live today, few people can say, like Renuka can, that I have been part of this aromatic world for more than 3 decades!

Some of the most successful Women in Kenya in big leadership positions.
On the far right, Ms.Isabella Nkonge former Director of the Coffee Board of Kenya

Even the most successful people in the world once had a beginning. They all had to undergo challenges during their lifetime. They had opportunities just like everyone else. The difference is how they handled each situation as it unfolded. Successful people put their best skills, thoughts and engage themselves with abundant commitment while still being consistent. They are passionate and believe in themselves.

Life is composed of different packages. Harmonizing what surrounds us is key. Our strength should be dedicated to our family, job, environment and our social life. Each component of life really matters. Setting priorities with a proactive mindset will lead us to a happy coffee community in the future. “My achievement” and “our achievement” means little if it does not impact the people around us. For a successful tomorrow, we should be accountable of our actions, bearing in mind that each action that we take today will always be reflected tomorrow.

Women play a critical role in every community. Supporting the vision of women can bring about great success.  Women know how to take care of their families thus resulting to a successful nation. The lasting value of our future depends upon a successful solid foundation which comes along with failures, hardships and disappointments. Not a single smooth road that leads to success exists, thus we should be ready for tough moments towards success!

Just to quote Caroline Cummings, "The comfort zone is a nice place, but nothing grows there. Take the leap today....”!

Women of Burundi are getting involved in the coffee industry

Eager to participate and learn more

Women of Burundi are courageous, persistent and resilient

In Burundi, coffee is the basis of the country’s economy and the main exporting crop, accounting for around 80% of export revenues. Roughly 600,000 householders are coffee farmers which means that 95% of the active populations - among them 60% are women -depend directly on coffee farming for the main source of cash income.

Women are getting involved in the coffee industry, eager to participate and learn more: to pick the right coffee cherry, to practice the best harvesting techniques, to understand the latest pest control and fertilizing methods for their coffee trees. They are learning more about their product, improving the quality, maintaining good practices on their properties so that they will be able to make better sales and show their children that there is indeed a future life in the coffee production.

As a vivid example, allow me to tell you a story; in Burundi we organized the Cup of Excellence 2014 and the closing ceremony was held on August 16th, 2014. Among the 27 winning lots, 2 of the 27 were from coffee cultivated exclusively by women of which one of them won 2nd place. These two winning lots came from the village of Kayanza in Burundi where there are two washing stations: SEGEC and Kayanza. We can say the winner was not ONE woman, but a GROUP of women who won.
 
This goes to show how women have made the decision to get involved in the coffee industry by building and improving their abilities. Women of Burundi are courageous, persistent and resilient when they put their mind on something, such as this “quiet” revolution.

Being among the winning lots of this competition proved to these hard working women as well as to others that they can indeed do what many were saying they couldn’t: these women will never give up!

Rebeca (far left) and friends

A helping hand...

At the end of the battle, the combatant dead, a man
approached him and said to him:
'Don’t die; I love you so much!'
but the corpse, alas!, kept on dying.

Two more came up to him and repeated:
'Don’t leave us! Be brave! Come back to life!'
but the corpse, alas!, kept on dying.

Twenty, a hundred, a thousand, five hundred thousand
appeared, crying out:
'So much love, and no power against death!'
but the corpse, alas!, kept on dying.

Millions of individuals surrounded him
with a common plea: 'Don’t leave us brother!'
but the corpse, alas!, kept on dying.

Then all the inhabitants of the earth surrounded him;
the corpse looked at them sadly, deeply moved;
he got up slowly
embraced the first man; started to walk…

"Mass" by  Cesar Vallejo

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It sometimes happens that life seems to have no direction, fate turns gray. Life is a long journey with wonderful experiences, but also with stones that hindered the way. I’m sure we've all had to fight for something sometime; we’ve been doing it since childhood. But if we have meaningful goals in life, this will helps us to move forward and never give up.

I recently tripped over some of these stones during my life’s journey. I must confess, they were hard and undesirable moments, but if you are sure you can overcome them, these stones will make you stronger. I recently had an episode in my life that troubled my health and it became more worrying when I realized that also the doctors didn’t know what was happening to me, they could not find an accurate diagnosis. My health was getting worse, the daily routine, activities and objectives were left aside. The frustrating daily pain did not let me think of good things. But within all this darkness, I found angels who helped me get ahead, starting with my family that has never left my side, helped me to dodge the stones. We fought together and found caring people, good doctors who at last we able to give me a diagnosis and possible treatment. It was a long time of uncertainty, but I was able to the see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My friends also played an important role. Their concern moved me and filled me with strength. My friends and my family gave me the desire to heal and move forward.

At a certain point, I stopped thinking about the bad things and I decided to change those negative thoughts into positive things, short term goals initially – things as simple as finishing my lunch, come home and fall asleep in my bed . Little things like dessert after lunch filled my day with joy! I then started to give myself more ambitious goals, some of which I have been able to fulfill already.

This journey is difficult. I know there are still visible stones up ahead, but from my own experience so far, I know that anything is possible. The unconditional support of my loving family, the goals I have set for myself, the concerns of my true friends have all helped me to continue on this path and to never give up.