The Café Empoderado/Empowered Coffee project, supported by the Embassy of Canada, is redefining the role of women in coffee production. Designed and led by E2E alumni girls, this initiative empowers 40 women coffee producers in Cantarranas, Honduras, with the skills, tools, and confidence to transform their livelihoods and challenge long-standing gender inequalities in the industry.
The Challenges Women Face
Insights from a design thinking process led by E2E alumni revealed stark gender disparities in coffee production. 66% of respondents noted that men and women perform distinct tasks, with women largely limited to bean-picking while men handle technical and profitable stages like processing and marketing. 70% of participants expressed that women’s work in coffee isn’t valued as highly as men’s, and 67% identified limited access to resources, such as fertilizers and equipment, as a primary challenge tied to their role as women.
Additionally, 80% of participants felt they lacked control over how their coffee is processed and sold, and many highlighted household responsibilities as a barrier to dedicating more time to learning and proactively managing their farms.
Transforming Lives Through Café Empoderado
The Café Empoderado project addresses these challenges by providing women with comprehensive training in sustainable cultivation, post-harvest processing, and marketing. Participants are gaining hands-on experience and access to critical infrastructure, such as solar dryers and moisture meters, to improve the quality of their coffee. By uniting under the collective brand “HonduMujer,” these women are creating a shared identity that amplifies their market presence locally and internationally.
Beyond technical skills, workshops on leadership and self-esteem are empowering participants to take on decision-making roles in their households and communities. For the first time, many are gaining the confidence to advocate for themselves and their work.
The Role of E2E Alumni Girls
This project wouldn’t be possible without the leadership of E2E alumni. These young women led the design thinking process, ensuring the program addressed the unique challenges women face in coffee production. By collaborating with trainers, they shaped a curriculum that is practical, actionable, and deeply relevant to the participants.
Their work is a testament to the ripple effect of E2E’s mission: young leaders, once beneficiaries of education and empowerment programs, are now driving transformative change in their communities.
Resilience and Pride
Despite the inequities they face, 90% of participants expressed pride and satisfaction in their work. This resilience and dedication inspire the core of Café Empoderado. By equipping these women with the resources and confidence to succeed, the project is not only improving their economic opportunities but also challenging societal norms about women’s roles in agriculture.
A Future of Equality and Empowerment
Café Empoderado is more than a coffee project—it’s a movement to empower women, redefine their roles in agriculture, and build stronger, more equitable communities. Guided by E2E alumni and supported by the Embassy of Canada, this initiative is transforming coffee production into a platform for women’s empowerment and lasting economic change in rural Honduras.