SheTrades: Economic Empowerment for Women

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By Thomas Schmid

SheTrades is a global initiative by the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Its mission is to foster the economic power of women by assisting small and medium enterprises that hope to gain access to markets and financial services.

Since its inception, SheTrades has generated more than $80 million in export value and facilitated market access for more than 18,000 female entrepreneurs, the majority of whom are based in developing countries.

A vivid example of the program’s straightforward assistance was the large SheTrades booth, a Commonwealth project funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development for some 12 Kenyan specialty coffee growers, traders, and exporters at last year’s COTECA show in Hamburg. All of these businesses are owned and operated by females.

“SheTrades allows female-owned businesses to engage in international trading and thus access markets they otherwise couldn’t,” said Lydia Mutahi, c.e.o. of Lewan, a company that largely deals with exports of organic agricultural products to Europe and the Middle East, including coffee.

“We at Lewan, together with local county governments in Kenya and groups of smallholder coffee farmers have embarked on a campaign to encourage more coffee farmers to grow their produce organically,” explained Mutahi. SheTrades, she added, had given her the opportunity to attend international trade exhibitions such as COTECA, meeting potential buyers and gaining insights into how well-placed Kenyan specialty coffee competes with other coffees from around the world.

“Lewan is a woman-owned business and we are optimistic to obtain better markets through the SheTrades initiative. This, in turn, is going to benefit the women who are primarily working in [Kenya’s] coffee plantations, ensuring better pay at the farm level. We know that many women will be impacted by this initiative and that it will change their and their families’ lives.”

Founded in 2016, Utake Coffee was one of the Kenyan companies represented at the SheTrades. “We are the first coffee company in Africa with an in-house Specialty Coffee Association trainer and Q grading instructor, which allows us to run Coffee Quality Institute-authorized Q grading and processing courses, as well as SCA courses for various modules,” said the company’s coffee quality expert, Mbula Musau. In July 2018, Utake Coffee, a member of the SCA, also obtained a coffee dealership license, enabling the firm to source, roast, import, and export coffee.

Like Mutahi, Musau extolled the benefits her company draws from SheTrades, including online training for trade purposes, participation in international coffee events like conferences, workshops, and exhibitions, networking with fellow traders and international buyers.

“The training and workshop sessions are very empowering and motivate small companies like Utake Coffee to utilize their available resources to grow and thrive,” she said. “At exhibitions, we get to meet interested coffee buyers who can discuss directly with us about our coffees and the trade process. That provides great potential to eventually seal a deal.”

“I personally think [SheTrades] is a great idea to support women-owned businesses, because it ensures gender equity in a climate of historical gender imbalances,” Musau asserted, adding that women sometimes require an “additional boost to be able to engage competitively in various trade sectors internationally.”

The initiative aims to connect three million women to markets by 2021 and welcomes partners to join, she said.

Learn more: www.shetrades.com