Resilient Communities Initiative

Smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America face a multitude of challenges including low coffee prices, a significant income gap compared to men, exclusion from decision-making processes, lack of access to fair markets, and the effects of climate change. These challenges are leading to significant food insecurity and poverty among coffee farmers, particularly women. However, reducing the gender gap in coffee communities can lead to increased production and income for households.

The Resilient Communities Initiative aims to support smallholder women coffee farmers in Costa Rica through a comprehensive program of food security tools, micro-grants, and peer mentorship. The program will equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to drive growth and sustainability in their farm businesses, with a focus on food security, climate adaptation, and diversification. Through business development training, budgeting, leadership and project implementation, the program will provide a supportive environment for the farmers to learn and develop their businesses. Peer mentorship and networking opportunities will also be created, connecting new participants with past participants of the program. Finally, the initiative will distribute $25,000+ in seed-grants to top business proposals by the farmers, as selected by a grant review committee.

Our solution, Bean Voyage, is specifically designed to serve smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America who own less than 10 hectares of farmland. These farmers are often underserved and face significant challenges, including low coffee prices, exclusion from decision-making processes, lack of access to fair markets, and the effects of climate change. These challenges have led to significant food insecurity and poverty among coffee farmers, particularly women.

Bean Voyage aims to address these challenges by providing a comprehensive package of training, mentorship, and financing to empower women farmers to build thriving coffee businesses. Our program focuses on food security, climate adaptation, and diversification, providing tools and knowledge that enable the farmers to access better markets, make informed decisions, and increase their incomes. Through our program, smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America will have the opportunity to improve their livelihoods, gain greater control over their businesses, and contribute to more sustainable and resilient coffee communities.

The following capabilities allow us to lead this work:

• Experience in the relevant field: we have worked with smallholder women coffee farmers in Costa Rica since 2016, supporting over 500+ smallholder women coffee farmers, successfully connecting them to mentors, funding, and training services. 

• A strong network of partners or collaborators: in a short period of time, we successfully partnered with a major partners in the coffee sector, development sector, and local governmental institutions. We have collaborated with organizations such as the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica, The Starbucks Foundation, UNDP, U.S Embassy in Costa Rica, and CATIE in successful program execution.

• A track record of successful implementation of similar initiatives or projects in the past: we have successfully implemented similar initiatives in Costa Rica since 2016, having supported more than 500 smallholder women coffee farmers in all eight coffee producing regions of the country. Our ability to focus on the specific needs of smallholder women allows us to scale from one region to another while maintaining the structure of the model across the board. Our work has been recognized at both national and international levels and we have researched for, and supported the Gender Policy in Coffee to pass by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica. 

• A dedicated team with relevant skills and experience: we have a team consisting of seasoned and passionate agriculturists, economists, sociologists and community organizers leading the venture which allows us to take an interdisciplinary approach to the work. 

We currently serve 593 smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America. 

Bean Voyage is applying to Solve to overcome the financial, advisory, and network barriers that the organization is facing as a nonprofit social enterprise in the growth phase. The goal is to collaborate with 10,000 smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America by 2030. Bean Voyage hopes that Solve can connect us with mentors and partners who can provide monetary and advisory support to advance our work and help us achieve these ambitious goals. While funding is not the sole goal of our application, we hope to leverage Solve's network and resources to build a strong team and connect with like-minded individuals.

Bean Voyage's solution is innovative in several ways. Firstly, we address the gender gap in the coffee industry by specifically targeting smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America who are often marginalized and excluded from decision-making processes. Secondly, we take a comprehensive approach to tackling the challenges faced by these farmers by providing a bundle of services consisting of training, peer mentorship, and financing to build sustainable businesses. Our approach recognizes that addressing one aspect of the problem is not enough and that a holistic approach is needed to ensure long-term success.

Moreover, Bean Voyage's use of technology sets us apart from other initiatives in this space. We use a WhatsApp based platform to connect farmers with training, funding support, and other key resources, and our innovative approach was awarded and featured by Meta for the innovative use of WhatsApp to provide low-cost, and highly accessible support to smallholder women farmers.

By providing smallholder women coffee farmers with the tools and resources they need to succeed, Bean Voyage's solution has the potential to catalyze broader positive impacts in the coffee industry. It could lead to increased productivity and sustainability in the sector, while also helping to close the gender gap and reduce poverty among smallholder farmers. In the long term, this could change the market by promoting more equitable and sustainable practices in the coffee industry.

We have the following Impact Goals

Outputs

• Number of farmers enrolled: 5000

• Number of local youth employed as field officers: 25 
  

• Amount of seed grant disbursed: $150,000

• Number of family members impacted: 25,000

Outcomes

• Farms with new diversifying sources of income: 50% of farmers that enroll are diversifying their sources of income to build a thriving business.

Impact: Thriving Business Index

We measure the long-term impact of our work through an annual impact survey which collects the following key metrics which formulates a Thriving Business Index. Our 5 year goal is to ensure that on average, a Bean Voyage farmer is scoring a 70% or higher on the annual Thriving Business Index Score as a result of our programs or services. 

We measure the long-term impact of our work through an annual impact survey which collects the following key metrics which formulates a Thriving Business Index:

• Savings: ability to save money 

• Stress: feeling of stress or anxiety due to financial difficulty

• Price: receiving a fair price when selling their coffee

• Decision making: having the decision-making power in the household

• Land ownership: confident working towards land ownership now or in the future

• Finance: comfortable using financial resources or tools

• Time: control over their time in fulfilling different responsibilities at farm and home

• Leadership: ability to grow into a leadership role in relation to the farm business

• Pride: feeling of pride towards their success in the coffee industry

• Labor: able to guarantee satisfactory working conditions 

• Knowledge: knowledgeable about coffee farming

• Curiosity: I have a desire to learn more about coffee farming

• Resource: confidence in accessing resources to further grow the business.

Each year, we look at the overall Thriving Business Index score of our cohorts to measure growth in the Thriving Business Index as a result of our programs or services.

Bean Voyage’s Theory of Change is that if we equip smallholder women coffee farmers with a bundle of services consisting of training, seed grant, and peer and business mentorship, then they will have the tools and support to build and lead thriving businesses -- in turn enabling them to improve their income and support their families and communities towards a sustainable future. This Theory of Change has been informed by Dr. Naila Kabeer’s Empowerment Framework that illustrates women’s ability to gain greater agency (process) and opportunities/achievements (outcome), if they are provided with the right resources (pre-conditions that they historically have been deprived of).

The core technology that powers our solution is the messaging platform WhatsApp, which enables us to provide services to farmers in a fast, accessible, and cost-effective way. We use various WhatsApp tools, to provide farmers with customized information and support related to their farming activities. Our team also uses WhatsApp to facilitate communication and coordination between farmers, mentors, and trainers, creating a virtual community that fosters peer learning and collaboration. Overall, our solution leverages the power of existing technology to create a scalable and impactful model for supporting smallholder women coffee farmers in Latin America.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is at the core of Bean Voyage’s work. More specifically, our work is rooted in a deep commitment to ensure greater gender equity in the coffee value chain. Through a bundle of services, consisting of training, market access, and financial support, we have grown an intentional community of smallholder women coffee farmers who have further developed their own thriving coffee businesses, earning more money, gaining more agency, and leading their own communities towards a healthier future.

Internally, DEI has been a core component of our team management strategy. From the very beginning, we worked towards a culture of creating space within the day-to-day work to further discuss and work towards equity goals as a team - whether it relates to our hiring practices, team management style, or accessibility needs. In 2020, we started measuring the impact of our efforts by conducting a team survey (every 6 months) to get a DEI pulse check. Some of the questions that we ask during the survey include:

Bean Voyage makes it easy for people from diverse backgrounds to be accepted.
Our team has a climate in which diverse perspectives are valued.
My opinions seem to count.
I feel free to speak my mind without fear of negative consequences.
Leaders at Bean Voyage value different perspectives.
I feel comfortable being my whole self at work.

On a year-to-year basis, our team has consistently scored very well in these surveys with the average 2022 score being 90%. There are still areas of growth, and we prioritize 1-2 goals on a yearly basis to further grow our efforts to make this an equitable team. For example, in 2022, we ensured greater professional development opportunities for our Costa Rica and Mexico based staff through a learning partnership with the University for Peace (Center for Executive Education) and a MasterClass Subscription for all teammates.

From an external communication perspective, we recognized that our external communication (instagram and website) was only present in English, which is why we introduced a Spanish Instagram Page (www.instagram/beanvoyage.latam) and a Spanish website (www.somosbeanvoyage.org). We are also working with a team of pro bono professionals to make our communications (especially website) accessible for a diverse audience

Our business model can be described in the following manner: by providing funding, mentorship, resources, and training, Bean Voyage aims to support the farmers to overcome challenges to their business growth and achieve sustainable livelihoods. Through a 12-month program cycle, selected farmers work on challenges while receiving micro-funds and mentorship from peers and subject matter experts. At the end of each cycle, farmers are enrolled in a peer community with access to world-class advisors, and technical experts working with farmers to build thriving businesses. 

Bean Voyage intends to thrive by using an innovative business model that combines subsidies and earned revenue. 

Bean Voyage aims to generate revenue through the following sources:

• Grants and Donations: as a nonprofit organization, Bean Voyage continues to subsidize costs of programming and micro-grants through grants and donations with an eventual goal of paying for these costs through earned revenue in the future.

• Earned Revenue: we are working to launch various streams of earned revenue including sales of merchandise, coffee tours, and coffee-related products that can offer additional income. 

Finally, one of our long term goals is to introduce a membership fee for farmers to join Bean Voyage, which would allow us to subsidize some of the program expenses. 

Currently, a majority of Bean Voyage's funds are raised through donations and grants. One example of a successful fundraising is our partnership with The Starbucks Foundation, which has allowed us to scale up the Resilient Communities Initiative from 590+ farmers within a couple of years. We have worked with the foundation for 3 rounds of grants, as a result of our clear and collaborative communication with the team and co-creation of projects which allows us to achieve our collective goals of reducing the gender gap in the coffee communities.