“Women play a pivotal role in ofi’s supply chains – as landowners, family workers, hired workers and extension agents and traders – and we’ve seen that, when able, women tend to reinvest more of their earnings in their families and communities than their male counterparts. Such is the significance of women’s inclusion that we have set dedicated targets to support 250 000 ofi women farmers with enhanced livelihood support by 2030.”Roel van Poppel
Chief Sustainability Officer, ofi – Olam Food Ingredients
[C3.3] By 2030, 250 000 ofi women farmers will have received enhanced livelihood support.
Across ofi’s global supply chains – comprising coffee, cocoa, dairy, nuts and spices – 94 000 women received livelihood support in 2023.
By 2030, 60 000 women coffee farmers will have received livelihood support, contributing to ofi’s overarching target to support 250 000 women.
In many farming communities where ofi – Olam Food Ingredients’ teams work, women have vastly unequal decision-making power, control over use of income, and access to education, finance, land and inputs. They also face disproportionate challenges due to entrenched social barriers as well as the impacts of climate change.
The ofi approach is centred around identifying opportunities for better inclusion of women in farming communities and providing tailored support designed to build confidence, motivation and financial autonomy. This support is delivered through dedicated farmer training programmes for women, such as ofi’s partnership with Canadian coffee roaster Tim Hortons in Indonesia’s North Sumatra region, Kuta Tengah, Karo.
Under the Coffee for Communities programme, participants – over half of whom are women farmers – are organized into multiple kelompok tani, or local farmer groups, and taught new technical skills and land management practices by ofi’s field teams. This is designed to help them gain the skills and confidence to become decision-makers and leaders on the farm.
As programme participant Normalina Br. Pandia narrates:
Required citation:
FAO. 2025. Commit to Grow Equality: investing in the future of women in agrifood systems – Progress report 2025. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd4123en
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