Newsletter | Global Coffee Conference 2026 V2
Many Origins, One Future: How #GCC2026
Turned Shared Challenges Into Shared Solutions
Did you know that a woman coffee farmer in Nyaruguru, Rwanda, and a woman coffee farmer in Jaén, Peru, work thousands of kilometers apart, but face the same challenges? unpredictable seasons, fluctuating prices, climate change, pests and diseases,... They have in the past years shared something else too: women do much of the work in coffee, yet are often missing from the conversations where decisions about the sector are made.
At the Global Coffee Conference (GCC) 2026 in Kigali, women were at the centre of those conversations. Over three days, women farmers, cooperative leaders and entrepreneurs from Africa and Latin America shared their knowledge, met buyers and discussed what they need to lead at every stage of the coffee supply chain. They were joined by buyers, researchers, government representatives, the private sector, and development partners from more than 17 countries.
That ambition shaped the three-day conversations:
how can knowledge travel across borders, innovation respond to farmers' realities, and how can collaboration strengthen the position of producers across the coffee value chain?
For Sustainable Growers, the gathering's purpose was clear. “We came to this conference to learn from one another and benefit wholly. Our main goal is that we all reach the global coffee market together, without leaving anyone behind,” said Christine Condo, CEO of Sustainable Growers.
Learning across origins
The conference began with field visits in Rwanda, where different key stakeholders from the global coffee value chain joined women producers from Latin America, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined their Rwandan counterparts on farms and at cooperative facilities.
Conditions differ between countries, but the women recognised familiar challenges in one another's experiences: managing farms alongside household responsibilities, leading cooperatives and sustaining family incomes.
Rahel Mwambala, a farmer at Henyi Cooperative in Tanzania, came away with skills to pass on. “I have learned how coffee can be harvested and how it can be properly prepared. This experience has been very beneficial to me because when I return to my colleagues back home, I will be able to teach them all these things,” she said.
In Kigali, the conversation continued, and at the Roots Across Oceans panel, women farmers and producers from different countries discussed what had helped them respond to challenges, and the decisions that remain difficult.
For Harley Nelci Mejia Manchay, coffee producer and quality manager at Prosperidad Cooperativa in Peru, those connections were the heart of the conference. “Coffee has truly united us. It has embraced us all. During these days, I have been able to encounter different cultures and languages; we have connected across different continents, but we all share a single dream: coffee,” she said.
This reflects a core belief at Sustainable Growers: knowledge does not move in only one direction. Women become both learners and teachers, adapting what works elsewhere to their own conditions.
Innovation starts with farmers
“Innovation with a focus on soil is innovation with a focus on sustainability,” said Dr. Sunita Pitamber, COO of OATH Africa. She also stressed speed: “For us, the key message is urgency. Where we have solutions, we need to deploy them urgently and bring that support to the level of the farmers very quickly.” At GCC 2026, women farmers showed what innovation looks like once it reaches the farm.
Marie Chantal Musabwinama, head of the Agaseke Association in Karongi District, described how she diversified into livestock. “I have expanded my activities by investing in pig farming, which also provides natural manure that helps increase productivity in my coffee plantation,” she said.
At Nyampinga Women's Cooperative in Nyaruguru, delegates saw members preparing organic manure for their coffee trees and earning additional income through crafts. Diversifying income helps households through periods when prices fall or harvests suffer. It is no substitute for fair markets or access to finance, but it is part of the practical knowledge women already use to manage uncertainty.
Technology was part of the conversation too. Augustin Nkundimana, founder of Rwanda-based AgricAI, presented tools that help farmers identify pests and diseases and access weather and agronomic advice, stressing that farmers, not AI, must make the final decisions. “AI will not really work if the farmers are not at the table of discussion, if their knowledge is not at the table, if their voice is not there at the table,” he said.
Beyond the farm
Women's leadership in coffee does not stop at the farm gate. At GCC 2026, women also took part as processors, business leaders, and sellers.
On the “From Innovation to Income: What Really Reaches the Farmers” panel, Michaelle Kubwimana, Managing Director of Kinunu Agroprocessing and Founder and CEO of Kawah Coffee Ltd, challenged delegates to rethink innovation. The next step for coffee cooperatives, she argued, may not be new equipment, but unlocking more value from what they already grow, process and sell.
Buyers made the same link between farm and market. Delphine Chassaigne, Coffee Sourcing Manager at Destination France, said that delivering high-quality coffee to consumers depends on working closely with cooperatives, going into the details and understanding how each coffee performs in the cup.
The conversations did not end in Kigali. After the conference, buyers from Japan, the United States, Latin America, and beyond visited women-led cooperatives, which shared around 21 coffee samples with them, a first step towards new trade relationships.
Building together
Results like these depend on more than one actor. Women farmers bring knowledge of the land, buyers connect them to markets, researchers bring evidence, and governments and development partners shape the conditions for investment.
Me Aloys Mutabingwa, a board member of Sustainable Growers, emphasized the need for collective action. “The future of coffee cannot be built by one country, one organisation, one company or one part of the value chain. It has to be built together,” he said. “This conference is not just about what happens here in Kigali. It is a process, it is a system, kick-started here and growing to become a global systems.”
True to its theme, “Build Together. Lead Globally,” #GCC2026 brought these groups into the same room, and the task now is to keep those partnerships going long after Kigali.
Many origins, one future
Hon. Consolée Uwimana, Rwanda's Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, framed women's inclusion not as a matter of representation, but of economic architecture. “Every cup of coffee begins with a farmer and a community,” she said. If women create much of the value in coffee, she argued, they should take an equal part in ownership, capital allocation and commercial decision-making.
The connections made in Kigali are a starting point. Sustainable Growers now continues working alongside women coffee farmers and their cooperatives, supporting knowledge exchange, strengthening market access and building partnerships across producing regions, so that women are part of the decisions that shape their sector.
Coffee may come from many origins, but its future will be stronger when the women who grow, process, negotiate and lead have an equal voice in shaping it.
For Agnes Nyinawumuntu, a coffee farmer at TUK Cooperative in Rwanda, this conference was only the beginning. “Coffee has brought us together once again. I believe, without a doubt, that through this conference we have become friends because of coffee. Beyond the friendship, we will build sustainable partnerships, building on the information we have been given at this conference, which we will also share with those we left at our cooperative.”
Build the future of coffee with us
Sustainable Growers welcomes buyers, roasters, importers, and supply-chain partners interested in building direct, long-term relationships with women-led coffee cooperatives. To explore sourcing or partnership opportunities, contact us at contact@sustainablegrowers.org.
About Sustainable Growers
Sustainable Growers is a non-governmental organisation working alongside smallholder women coffee farmers to improve productivity, strengthen market access, and build sustainable livelihoods through training, trade, and strategic partnerships. With the long-standing support of founding partner Bloomberg Philanthropies, and in collaboration with the governments of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, Sustainable Growers has supported more than 77,000 women coffee farmers, creating a positive impact for over 341,000 family members across the region