Our Story
It started with a simple shift.
What if the people who grow coffee could also shape its value?
For years, women have been central to coffee production, yet largely excluded from the opportunities it creates. Sustainable Growers was established to address this imbalance, not only by improving how coffee is grown, but by transforming how women participate across the entire value chain.
The transformation began where coffee begins: on the farm.
At the time, coffee harvesting followed habit rather than precision. Farmers picked cherries as they came, often mixing ripe red cherries with unripe green ones. The result was inconsistent quality, limiting the coffee’s ability to reach higher-value markets.
Sustainable Growers responded by focusing on the fundamentals of production, starting with how coffee is grown, harvested, and handled at the earliest stage of the value chain.
Training was delivered through farmer field schools and cooperative-led sessions, ensuring that practices could be adopted consistently across groups of producers.
At the center of this learning was the introduction of the Color of Excellence.
Ripe red cherries — and the bracelet that changed how they’re picked
Farmer field school — learning the standard, together
- coffee tree care and pruning
- soil management and crop health
- how cherries develop and mature
- how harvesting decisions affect cup quality and price
At the same time, farmers were introduced to the farm-to-parchment process, learning how cherries are sorted and prepared before delivery to washing stations.
Selective picking and improved handling at farm level ensured that only high-quality cherries entered the processing stage, directly influencing cup quality downstream.
As quality improved at farm level, a new constraint became clear:
Better coffee alone does not guarantee better income without access to the right markets.
Many farmers were still selling coffee as undifferentiated parchment through intermediaries, limiting their ability to benefit from improved quality.
This phase focused on connecting production to structured market systems.
Let’s Talk Coffee — farmers meet buyers, face to face
Sustainable Growers expanded its reach:
- from a small number of cooperatives to over 80
- across Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania
Coffee was aggregated and processed at cooperative washing stations, enabling consistent quality control, traceability, and alignment with specialty coffee standards.
Cooperatives were strengthened to:
- organize collection and aggregation of cherries
- manage processing workflows
- maintain quality consistency across lots
Standardized processing protocols, particularly for fully washed coffee, helped preserve the quality achieved at farm level and meet buyer expectations.
Farmers also began engaging directly with the market.
Through platforms like Let’s Talk Coffee and participation in global forums, farmers:
- presented their coffee to buyers
- received cupping feedback
- built long-term commercial relationships
Exposure to cupping and grading processes allowed farmers to better understand how quality is evaluated and priced in specialty markets.
The launch of Question Coffee further strengthened this connection, linking production to consumption and showcasing the quality produced by women farmers.
With both quality and market access established, the model evolved further.
The focus shifted from improving production and accessing markets to ensuring long-term resilience and scalability.
The model is implemented at the cooperative level, allowing it to be replicated across regions while adapting to local agronomic and market conditions.
- adopt climate-smart agricultural practices
- improve financial literacy and savings mechanisms (e.g., VSLs)
- understand coffee price volatility and global market trends
- strengthen cooperative governance and leadership structures
Partnerships with financial institutions and sector actors enable farmers to access financial services, working capital, and broader market systems.
At this stage, the role of women within the coffee sector has fundamentally changed.
They are no longer only cultivating coffee.
They are:
Continuous training, market linkage, and cooperative strengthening ensure that the model remains adaptive, scalable, and embedded within the broader coffee ecosystem.