Women smallholder farmers growing beverage crops
摘要
Coffee and tea are two of the most ubiquitous beverage crops that are grown globally, and together they represent a significant share of the beverage industry overall. Even with the rise of packaged sodas, tea remains the second most popular beverage in the world, just below water. Coffee, though less sipped than tea by volume, is second only to crude oil in terms of its value (International Coffee Organization, 2015). At the center of these two industries are two crops that are cultivated by farmers around the world. Today 80% of all coffee is produced by 25 million smallholders, from the two domesticated coffee plants that have been cultivated for consumption, which include, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. Overall, around 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods (Fairtrade UK, 2022). Smallholder farmers produce 60% of the world’s tea, which is derived from the singular plant Camellia sinensis (FAO, 2022). Due to the value of these beverage crops, the production of coffee and tea represents an important point of focus for addressing global inequalities in agriculture for women in smallholder farming.