A Women-Led Coffee Cooperative In El Salvador: Autonomy And Leadership Drives Local Development – CoffeeTalk

Rosario Elizabeth Ramos, a 48-year-old mother of a son with Down syndrome in El Salvador, has transformed her life by leading a women’s coffee producers’ cooperative, coordinating a community savings group, and making her agroecological coffee plantation a part of a sustainable production model. This experience reflects the Women, Local Economy and Territories (MELYT) program, implemented by UN Women and funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

The MELYT program identified a clear pattern: women who sustain family, community, and environmental care need economic autonomy. In its first phase (2018-2021), MELYT focused on strengthening community organization and financial inclusion. During that process, a shared conclusion emerged: care responsibilities were a structural barrier to the economic growth of women and their communities. Without access to services, redistribution of domestic work, and personal time, entrepreneurship was not enough.

In its second phase (2023-2025), MELYT prioritized care work as part of its comprehensive development strategy. This decision enabled the integration of productive strengthening processes with actions aimed at creating local welfare systems, training in shared responsibility, and fostering institutional partnerships to influence public policy. UN Women has actively participated in the formulation and implementation of El Salvador’s National Policy on Shared Responsibility for Care, a framework that seeks to recognize, redistribute, and reduce the burden of unpaid care work for people with disabilities in dependent situations and older adults who have lost autonomy.

Cases like Rosario’s illustrate this: her economic autonomy did not happen in the absence of responsibilities, but rather despite a heavy care workload, thanks to a strategy that combined training, organization, and access to solidarity financial services. As a member of her savings group, she has managed loans that now support her cooperative’s infrastructure. As a caregiver, she has included her son in production processes. As an organized woman, she has empowered other women to develop their capacities.

These actions align with global commitments toward Beijing+30, particularly regarding the Beijing Platform for Action, which calls for recognizing the value of unpaid work, facilitating work-life balance, and integrating care into economic and social systems. By incorporating care as a pillar of territorial economic empowerment, MELYT has made a substantive contribution to advancing this global commitment through local practice.

Rosario’s experience is not isolated; it reflects the journey of many rural women who sustain the well-being of their families and communities without recognition or structural support. Her story confirms that without a comprehensive approach to care, we cannot discuss economic autonomy or territorial development with women as the protagonists. UN Women continues to promote the construction of care systems that recognize women’s work, redistribute it socially, and integrate it into public policies. The challenge toward Beijing+30 is not only to advance international commitments but also to ensure, from the ground up, that women like Rosario can fully exercise their rights without having to choose between caring for others and developing themselves.

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