Women in Wayanad Coffee – The Hidden Backbone

                                     Chapter 13

   Meet the women shaping coffee from the shadows of the                                                        canopy

🌾 Silent Strength in Every Step

Behind every sweet-scented cup of Wayanad coffee

are hundreds of women — walking barefoot through

plantations, carefully plucking cherries, sorting them on drying yards, and quietly supporting both families and farms.

They may not always own the land, but they hold up the entire coffee economy.

🌿 Roles Women Play

In Wayanad’s coffee farms, women are not just laborers. They are:

🌸 Harvesters – picking only ripe cherries with precision

🧺 Sorters & Drying Experts – removing defective beans, managing drying under sun

🌱 Nursery Managers – raising saplings with care

🧮 Record-Keepers & Budgeters – managing SHG finances

💪 Community Organizers – forming and running Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and training collectives

Meet Beena and Sajitha

> Beena, from Kalpetta, works on her family’s 2-acre coffee farm.

“My hands are in coffee from sunup to sundown — from nursery to drying yard.”

Sajitha, from Meenangadi, manages a women-run SHG.

“We trained ourselves, saved together, and now we sell directly to traders.”

These stories are echoes of resilience. Quiet leadership is growing under every shade tree.

💬 Why Women Matter in Coffee

Contribution Impact

Skilled harvesting Better quality cherries, fewer rejects

Post-harvest care Accurate drying

= improved cup scores

SHGs and cooperatives Collective strength in marketing and negotiation

Home + farm synergy Coffee earnings often used for children’s education and health

🌍 A Step Toward Equity

Many NGOs and coffee programs are now focusing on women-led training, promoting:

Financial literacy

Organic farming techniques   

Gender equity awareness

Small-scale roasting units run by women

Empowered women make stronger, fairer coffee systems — and Wayanad is leading by example.