Welcome to
Sustainable Growers.

Letter From Our Executive Director

Welcome to Sustainable Growers.

We are inspired every day by the women shaping the coffee sector in East Africa. Their stories often begin before sunrise, tending coffee trees, harvesting cherries, caring for their families, and sustaining entire communities through their work. Yet for generations, many women coffee producers have remained excluded from the economic opportunities and recognition within the very industry they help sustain.

Since 2013, with the early support of our founding partner, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Sustainable Growers began in Rwanda with a simple idea: that women coffee producers deserve greater opportunity, through quality coffee, knowledge, and access to specialty coffee markets.

What started in Rwanda has grown across East Africa, reaching the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016 and Tanzania in 2021, as more women farmers joined a shared journey toward stronger livelihoods and more sustainable coffee communities.

Today, more than 77,000 women coffee producers have graduated from our programs, positively impacting over 308,000 family members and creating ripple effects across entire communities.

But our work is about more than training. It is about a mother increasing her income so she can send her children to school, pay for her family’s health insurance, and save for her pension through participation in Ejo Heza. It is about improving livelihoods by enabling families to live in safer and more conducive households.

It is also about women gaining the confidence to lead cooperatives, participate in decisions that shape their futures, and contribute to the future of the coffee sector itself. Above all, it is about women increasing their economic independence and decision power.

Through hands-on training, cooperative strengthening, climate-smart agriculture, leadership development, and direct access to buyers, we support women producers to improve coffee quality, increase income, and strengthen their opportunities throughout the coffee value chain.

The results are visible in everyday life: stronger cooperatives, better harvests, higher incomes, and women stepping into leadership roles across the coffee sector.

We also work closely with farmers to build resilience to climate change through regenerative farming practices that protect both livelihoods and the land for future generations.

Today, we celebrate more than progress, we celebrate partnership.

Because of your support, women coffee producers are opening new doors, growing thriving businesses, and creating lasting change in their families and communities. Thank you for believing in their potential and walking this journey with us. Together, we are shaping a future where women lead, grow, and flourish.

With gratitude,
Sincerely,