Asociacin de Mujeres Cafeteras

del Occidente del Huila

Carrera 2, #3-95
Oficina de Cadefihuila, La Plata,
Huila, Colombia

Phone: (+57) 311-506-8227

https://www.facebook.com/MujeresCafeterasLaPlata
E-mail: gladys.hernandez@cadefihuila.com

70
Years

1947 - 2017

www.coopscanada.coop
70
Years

www.cdfcanada.coop
@CDFCanada @CCAIntl
www.impact.coop 1947 - 2017
 Our Story
In 2008, a group of women farmers in the municipality of La Plata, Huila
decided to take up the cause of gender equality and founded the Consejo
Participativo de Mujeres (Participatory Womens Council), following the
guidelines established by the governments National Policy for Gender
Equity for Women, which at the time was being promoted throughout the
country.
A group of 50 women from La Plata, Huila took the initiative and began
leadership training, strengthening their roles in the community and raising
awareness among women regarding the importance of changing their lives,
breaking down barriers of inequality, and taking on new roles in the family
and in the production chain.
The Participatory Womens Council of La Plata was responsible for
important activities such as gender sensitivity training for all members of
coffee-growing families, which raised awareness regarding the importance
of granting women active roles. This training implemented a strategy
whereby husbands signed over one hectare of their land to their wives, who
then carried out projects with autonomy and economic freedom.
It was difficult because we went into the community to talk about gender
equality at a time when machismo was very present and husbands didnt
believe in the project. But gradually, with support from psychologists and
from all of the women, people got to know us and things began to change,
in families and in the community. says Nelly Saavedra Crdoba, President
of the Asociacin de Mujeres Cafeteras del Occidente del Huila.
Following this process of sensitization and awareness raising,
CADEFIHUILA and the National Federation of Coffee Growers
supplied women in training with the seeds and grow bags needed to
build a nursery, out of which grew the first 2,500 coffee plants that
became the cornerstone of the Asociacin de Mujeres Cafeteras del
Occidente del Huila. The Association was officially founded in 2014.
Every woman in the organization now owns approximately 7,000
Caturra and Castillo-variety plants, making it possible for 280 coffee-
growing families made up of farmers, indigenous people, LGBTI,
victims of the armed conflict, single mothers, and disabled women, to
improve their living conditions.
The Association and its gender sensitivity training strategy changed
the history of women in the region. The members continue to study
and train through the National Training Service (SENA) and the
Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia; they are active in the coffee-
growers union, facilitating projects with the public and private sectors
to provide seed capital and accessing loans, which are useful tools in
sustaining crops and marketing coffee.
Profits from marketing coffee through its business partner
CADEFIHUILA are used to improve the living conditions of
members and the community in general, by maintaining technically,
economically, and financially sustainable businesses. Mujeres Cafeteras
del Occidente del Huila is considered a model association, given its
family focus, and emphasis on teaching children to love the coffee-
growing business and involving the children and the husbands in the
entire production process.