Bula Coffee: Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities, the Effects on Women’s Agency and Their Influence on Social Norms in Rural Fijian Communities

Abstract

In recent years there has been a push from policymakers and the broader development arena on women’s economic empowerment (WEE). The drive to mainstream gender and strengthen focus on WEE in market systems programming took force in 2003; however, the approach to systematically integrate WEE into implementation, monitoring and results measurement is fairly recent. The Market Development Facility (MDF) programme is one such programme that has developed a WEE framework that is integrated into all aspects of project development across a range of different socio-economic contexts. It not only looks at addressing WEE constraints as relevant but also seeks to draw out and align the incentives of the private sector to do so. The Fiji Bula Coffee case study demonstrates this and highlights the findings on WEE, specifically on women’s access, agency and their influence on social norms in rural Fijian communities.

Qualitative and quantitative data were collected over consecutive field studies conducted over a four-year period beginning in 2015. In-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were used to interview a total of 69 community members across five communities in the Sigatoka highlands. Findings reveal that women in rural coffee-supplying communities have equal access to income-generating activities and are able to make decisions on the income earned from coffee harvesting. Income is used for education and a portion is put aside as savings. ‘Women’s voice’ through collective action and decision-making is also discussed, where through a female champion, who in this case was the chief’s wife, women in the community were enabled to continue supplying coffee cherries and earning additional income for their families, despite the ban that was initially put in place by the chief.

Citation

Vilisoni, M.T.J., Vilogorac, A. and Saif, S.S. (2019), "Bula Coffee: Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities, the Effects on Women’s Agency and Their Influence on Social Norms in Rural Fijian Communities", Singh-Peterson, L. and Carnegie, M. (Ed.) Integrating Gender in Agricultural Development, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 59-72. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78973-055-520191007