Margaret Nyamumbo, Kahawa 1893 Coffee- Energizing Women's Empowerment by the Cup

Nov 3

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This week, I spoke to Margaret Nyamumbo, Founder and CEO of Kahawa 1893 Coffee, a brand of Kenyan coffee ethically sourced by women farmers. The heartbeat of Kahawa 1893 Coffee is Margaret’s passion for empowering African farmers and ending the cycle of poverty.

Margaret is a third-generation coffee farmer who immigrated to the United States from Kenya, searching for greener pastures. After earning an MBA from Harvard, she went on to get a dream job on Wall Street. However, Margaret kept feeling a tug to something familiar. She found herself being lured to conduct coffee taste tests on her days off. Her passion for coffee was reignited.

“You cannot do something that you are not passionate about for so long.” - Margaret

Margaret wanted to do more than sell coffee; she founded Kahawa 1893 with the goal to bridge the gender gap in the coffee sector. African farmers produce what is considered the best coffee in the world, yet their compensation is not commensurate with their hard work. Furthermore, women are at an even greater disadvantage as they comprise 90% of the workforce yet own 1% of the farmland.

At the center of Margaret’s business model is women’s empowerment. She has successfully harnessed the power of technology and uses it as an equalizer. Margaret created a fund for Rwandan and Kenyan women farmers. This fund has enabled women farmers to earn a sustainable income, meet their basic needs, employ staff, and invest in their futures. She also offers a feature on her website where anyone can tip the farmers, and she matches each donation 100%.

In four years, Margaret has achieved a lot of milestones. Being the first black woman-owned coffee brand has come with its own fair share of challenges, but the good has outweighed the bad - she continues to impact communities by empowering women farmers through sharing of wealth.

Kahawa 1893 Coffee is proudly sold at selected Trader Joe’s locations in California and will soon be available on Target shelves.

In This Episode You Will Learn: