Changing The Coffee Industry

In eastern Uganda, 35-year-old Meridah Nandudu grew up in a village where men dominated the coffee trade while women did the back-breaking labor and got almost none of the profit. After graduating with a degree in social work but struggling to find a job, she returned home, enrolled in a business training program, and launched her own company, Bayaaya Specialty Coffee. She began buying top-quality beans directly from women farmers, paying them more and creating financial independence for over 600 women—many of whom had previously been excluded. She negotiated with farmers’ husbands to allow their wives to sell the beans, offered incentive bonuses, and helped transform roles in the home. Today, Bayaaya is a growing business that not only changes the lives of its farmers but is reshaping a community’s understanding of gender and value in the coffee industry.

Image via NPR

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