Marcelline Budza, a 33-year-old feminist and entrepreneur, started an NGO called Rebuild Women's Hope (RWH) to expand the role of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo's coffee sector
Women sort coffee at the Muungano cooperative to remove waste and dirt in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Image: Guerchom NDEBO / AFP
The afternoon sun beats down on Lake Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where on an island, row after row of coffee bushes are bringing forth a rich harvest of berries.
And the main beneficiaries will be women—the outcome of an equity project in a sector where women are notoriously sidelined and under-paid.
"Women are the ones who work the land, but when it comes to harvesting (the crop) and marketing (it), they get pushed aside—it becomes a man's business," said Marcelline Budza, a 33-year-old feminist and entrepreneur.
"That was what disgusted me."
Nine years ago, Budza founded an NGO called Rebuild Women's Hope (RWH) to expand the role of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo's coffee sector.