Hivos together with Twin & Twin Trading Limited through funding from Comic Relief are working with Vuasu Cooperative Union (VCU) in Same, Kilimanjaro region. Vuasu Cooperative Union, like many East African coffee POs, faces two main challenges: improving its productivity to bridge the gap with other origins (225 - 250 kg/ha against 600kg/ha in Ethiopia or 800-1000 kg/ha in Peru, Guatemala or Honduras) and improving its quality to capture part of the growth of the specialty coffee market.

By increasing the visibility of women and youth along the value chain, enhancing their decision-making power and control over assets and ensuring equal access to income and extension services, Hivos and Twin& Twin Trading Limited believes there will be a positive affect VCU’s coffee quality and productivity and thereby secure their position as a strong market player in the specialty coffee industry. It is estimated that around coffee farmer 5,104 (518-female) who are members of VCU and 11,000 non-active members.

The Gender and Generational Empowerment Programme builds the achievements of Hivos’ work with Vuasu in integrating Twin’s 6 pillars of development for smallholder organizations: gender justice, sustainable agriculture, business management, governance, quality and processing and market access. It draws on existing global and regional expertise, including Hivos Head office, Hivos Regional Office in Nairobi (Hub EA).

Hivos Hub-EA, through advocacy will target the wider stakeholders of the coffee industry including the Tanzania Coffee Board with the aim of strongly persuading them to invest in gender and youth interventions. Additionally, through advocacy efforts Hivos and allies will engage with the private sector to secure additional resources to bring as match funding to scale up activities related to climate adaptation and gender/youth initiatives.

The programme aims at achieving the following objectives:

1. More equal division of labour, access to income and assets, and participation in

planning and decision making, between men, women and young farmers.

2. VCU’s members, including women and youth, increase coffee productivity and

quality and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS).

3. Governance and business performance of VCU is strengthened, leading to greater robustness and member loyalty.
4. Male, female and youth farmer coffee income increases by accessing higher value markets, through certification and marketing support.
5. Coffee industry participants are better prepared to invest in gender and youth interventions.
6. Train Hivos staff at Hub EA on integrating Gender Action Learning System (GALS) in their programs a heightened focus being institutionalization of this methodology.

Evidence Frontiers was engaged by HIVOs to develop an advocacy strategy to guide tactful engagement with stakeholders as aforementioned

Evidence Frontiers adopted mix of participatory approaches to deliver on this assignment which included active consultation, involvement and participation of key stakeholders, especially those involved in the policy advocacy around gender and advocacy in the agricultural sector, particularly the coffee value chain at the national levels, including government representatives in the coffee sector. The process entailed consulting with women, female and male youths working in coffee (Same district of Mt. Kilimanjaro region) and engaging with VCU. Essentially the consulting team sought to understand gender inequality factors and constraints along the value chain and where advocacy can impact the success of the programme. Specifically, the consulting team analysed gender dimensions (access and control, decision-making, access to training an information and access and control of income), alongside coffee production, processing and marketing and sales.

The Political Economy Analysis (PEA) methodology. The PEA enable us to explore and understand how power is used in the context of this programme, factors that impact coffee sector development and governance issues, including politics, rules and norms, social and cultural practices, beliefs and values, and historical and geographical determinants at national and Kilimanjaro region. An issue-focused PEA was applied, which examined the forces that create gender inequality along the coffee value chain, and through this identify opportunities and actors that can drive change locally and nationally through advocacy.  The PEA aimed at drilling down on the specific advocacy issues and the factors that shape and sustain them at three levels.

1. Structural/institutional features: Underlying political, social, and economic factors that influence gender inequality along coffee value chain, formal institutions, informal rules & social norms that govern power and behaviour.
2. Agency dynamics: The incentives, interests, and distribution of power among relevant actors, and how these shapes the dynamics of gender inequality along value chain.
3. Interaction: How structural/institution and agency dynamics features interact and the scope for opportunism and change

1. Inception Report (with power point presentation) outlining the consultant’s understanding of the TOR, methodology, ethical considerations, outline, workplan and a list individuals and/or types of organizations the consultant will be engaging with
2. Validation workshops with key stakeholders (government and private sector), partners, women, female and male youths working in coffee, engaging with VUASU producer organization working with Hivos in Same Tanzania).
3. Consultancy report on the process including stakeholder consultations and workshops
4. Development of advocacy massages and tactical operational plan of action
5. Development of a 3 year comprehensive influencing gender advocacy strategy including a results and resources framework.

Send an email to info@evidencefrontiers.com to request the full report.