Equality Brew - Dark

• FLAVOR: Dark Chocolate, Caramel, Citrus, Dried Apricot, Papaya, Stone Fruit
• BODY: Medium
• ACIDITY: Bright

Equality Brew
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Tanzania Hezya Usawa Kahawa
In Swahili, usawa means balance and kahawa means coffee. The Usawa Kahawa Project is all about gender equality, and was established in 2021 by Taylor Winch, Genuine Origin’s sister company in Tanzania. The project’s goal is to make sure women are involved in farming coffee and bringing it to market. Its two main pillars are 1) empowering gender champions and gender action learning systems and 2) growing coffee production in Tanzania through training women and establishing new farms.

The project works with the Hezya Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS) in the Mbozi region of Tanzania. AMCOS manage 95% of the country’s coffee production, and smallholders must be registered to an AMCOS to qualify for support in production, processing, storage, transport, marketing, and government aid. Without membership, their raw green coffee would have no way of reaching the global market.

The Hezya AMCOS that produced this lot is made up of nearly 300 smallholders with <1 hectare farms at altitudes ranging from 1590 to 1670masl. Their annual production volume is 64 metric tons, and they mainly focus on growing Bourbon, N39, Kent, and other local varieties.

In addition to agricultural training, the producers who are part of the Usawa Kahawa Project are also trained on the importance of gender equity within the family for coffee production and distribution of finances. Much of the training is led by gender champions who live within the AMCOS communities. Within the Hezya AMCOS, gender champions initiated the Shamba Darasa Model Farm to showcase better agricultural practices and lead by example.