Story

Farmer Co-Op
Norandino

Origin
Piura, Peru

Varietals
Catimor, Bourbon & Typica

Elevation
1600 MASL

Our Organic Ray of Light seasonal coffee helps us spotlight the trailblazing work that Norandino Co-op in Peru is doing around gender equity. This co-op has been prioritizing gender equity, including it as a part of their strategic plan as a business, which has resulted in a process to engage the staff and take action.

It has been a convergence of ideas and energy. The co-op spent time assessing itself and its own practices, and identified the need to act on wage disparity between men and women staff. To tackle this issue, they referenced a framework that Peru has, called the Equal Pay Act. This provides a methodology to use to make adjustments within a complex staff roster that has a range of jobs, from sales and accounting to agronomists and staff in production.

The co-op has also worked with a gender equity specialist, Leslie Rosales. Leslie works on behalf of Equal Exchange through the USAID Cooperative Development Program to provide training and support. Through online exchanges and hands-on consultation, she and the team have played a supportive role to help foster change.

Leaders in this effort are proud of the process and the results. In addition to the tangible changes made in their own organization, Norandino is an influential co-op in the region, and participants hope that their work and willingness to talk about this work will have a multiplier effect that will inspire others.

Credit for these changes goes to Norandino. Equal Exchange is proud to have played a support role. In addition to our direct work with co-ops through purchasing their crops through fair trade terms, we also manage a USAID grant. This allows us to help channel resources and expertise to some of the farming communities we buy from, like Norandino, so that change is amplified. This means that what we call "non-commercial activities" and grants can fund specific projects that are separate from, butcomplementary to, the benefits that our trade practices provide through our purchasing.