How We
Work
Our Model
The Color of Excellence
Before joining the training program, fewer than 2% of the coffee harvested by women farmers reached the market. The challenge was not poor land or lack of effort. It was knowing when a coffee cherry had reached perfect ripeness.
Sustainable Growers introduced a simple but transformative solution: a red bracelet worn in the field, matching the color of a perfectly ripe coffee cherry. Later, the red vest became a symbol of quality shared across cooperatives.
Within the first harvest season, crop value increased by up to 40%.
Leveraging Best Agricultural Practices
Through farmer field schools, women gain practical skills in harvesting, mulching, weeding, pruning, soil and fertilizer management, selective harvesting, pest control, and climate-smart agriculture.
Beyond increasing yields, the program equips women to manage coffee as a sustainable business, improving resilience and producing competitive specialty coffee.
Coffee Processing Method and Home Roasting
Women are introduced to the full coffee value chain, from cultivation and processing to traditional home roasting and coffee appreciation.
This understanding increases the value of their product and strengthens their confidence as producers and entrepreneurs.
Market Linkages & Global Visibility
Our program connects women coffee farmers directly to local and international markets, through trade events, global platforms, and face-to-face buyer engagement that reduce dependence on intermediaries. Training in leadership and storytelling equips women to advocate for their own work and represent their cooperatives with confidence, as their coffee reaches markets across Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Relationships with social lenders and Village Savings and Loans (VSLs) expand access to credit, while training in banking and financial literacy helps women secure working capital loans and build lasting financial independence and ownership of their own growth.
We established Question Coffee, a social enterprise café and roastery, to showcase coffee grown by women producers who graduate from the program, strengthening local coffee consumption and reinvesting proceeds directly back into the training program.
Premium Sharing Rewards (PSR) Program
The Premium Sharing Rewards (PSR) Program recognizes women coffee producers for adopting best agricultural practices, embracing positive behavior change, implementing government initiatives, and contributing to their communities. Farmers earn points by improving coffee quality, maintaining farm records, participating in savings groups and cooperatives, and engaging in government-supported social initiatives such as health insurance, school enrollment, hygiene, and nutrition. Points can be redeemed for assets including farming equipment, livestock, solar lamps, and household goods.
Since 2014, more than 77,000 farmers have participated. The PSR program rewards measurable performance and impact, not simply participation.
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