Global Coffee Supply Chain

Improving occupational safety and health in the global coffee supply chain

Coffee is produced in more than 50 developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. It is an important source of income for 20 to 25 million families worldwide. And women make up an estimated 70% of the workforce in the sector. As between 20 and 30% of coffee-producing economic units are run by women, their participation is increasingly recognized.

Every day, coffee workers face a wide spectrum of risks at work. However, farmers do not always understand the risks to which they are exposed as part of their work, and often lack the knowledge or the means to prevent OSH-related accidents and injuries.

That’s why, since 2018, Vision Zero Fund has been working to improve workers’ OSH in the coffee supply chain. Projects implemented in Laos, Mexico, Colombia, Honduras and Vietnam have directly and indirectly benefited a total of 3.5 million workers.

Expected outcomes

Working in partnership with government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and private sector companies, the Fund is now implementing an initiative to reduce the exposure of women and men working in the coffee supply chain to occupational safety and health hazards of workers. 

This initiative seeks to consolidate the learnings from the country projects and elevate lessons to the global level, thereby expanding the scope and impact of its work to date. 

Interventions

• Design and implement a global campaign to facilitate a greater understanding of coffee workers occupational safety and health among a wide range of industry stakeholders;
• Transfer and scale capacity development activities through key stakeholders;
• Organize learning workshops for stakeholders to share sectoral good practices on OSH improvement. 

This project is funded by the European Union.