Women's access, equity and empowerment: Progress and uptake of the Fairtrade gender strategy

This study was commissioned to assess progress on the Fairtrade Gender Strategy 2016-2020, which seeks to build women's equality through three goals: 1. Access and inclusion: Significantly increase the active and equal participation of women in Fairtrade certified smallholder and hired labour organizations; 2. Empowerment and Equity: Empower more women and girls with opportunities to access equitably the benefits of Fairtrade; and 3. Gender transformative change: Address systemic issues that hamper the realization of greater gender equality in Fairtrade supply chains. The study includes case study analysis of six coffee cooperatives to explore how Fairtrade Standards and programmes such as women's schools of leadership and Growing Women in Coffee generate benefits for women farmers, workers and their communities. The researchers identify best practices, and recommend scaling up successful programmes, among other things.