Did you know that women grow 60-80% of the world’s food?

Despite making up a large proportion of the world’s agricultural workforce, women remain underrepresented in land ownership and therefore receive little of the profit generated by their work.

To mark International Women’s Day, Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand wants to shine a light on this inherent inequality and highlight the distinct ways in which Fairtrade supply chains promote women’s rights.

Standards:

Fairtrade Standards are designed to prevent gender inequality, increase female participation and empower more women and girls to access the benefits of Fairtrade.

Requirements for producer organisations include:

• No discrimination on the basis of gender or marital status
• Zero tolerance of behaviour that is sexually intimidating, abusive or exploitative
• No testing for pregnancy when recruiting workers
• Programs to support disadvantaged and minority groups, such as women
• Developing a gender policy, over time.

Fairtrade Premium:

The Fairtrade Premium is often invested in projects that seek to improve gender equality, such as the Women in Coffee Project in the Kapkiyai Multipurpose Cooperative in Kenya.

The Project helps women develop skills in business, growing their own coffee, and increasing yields.

“All the money belonged to the men. Women worked hard but got nothing in return” said Caroline Arusai, Cooperative Secretary, Women in Coffee. The Women in Coffee Project is addressing this.

The program now has 325 members who own their own coffee bushes and receive direct payment for the commodity they produce.

Women’s School of Leadership:

Fairtrade Producer Networks have established Women’s Schools of Leadership, enabling women to learn business, negotiating and finance skills. This has equipped many women to take on leadership positions within their cooperatives and communities.

The first cohort of Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste students graduated in 2022, reflecting a successful implementation of the program in the Pacific region.

What can you do?

This International Women’s Day we ask you to reflect on the barriers women continue to face in global supply chains and take action to demand a more equitable world.

Making the change to Fairtrade products is a simple way to support gender equality and fairness while buying high-quality sustainable products. Best of all, we have a dedicated product finder with a great range of Fairtrade products in the one place.

Your purchase has power. Make the change today.