The International Trade Centre (ITC) believes there is a link between women's economic empowerment and sustainable and environmentally friendly trade.

ITC is working to ensure women are involved in strengthening the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' (MSMEs) and their suppliers in the agri-food and natural product sectors in developing countries.

One example is work in Kenya and Uganda to reduce energy costs and find ways to adapt to climate change in the tea sector. In Kenya, around 60 per cent of employees in the tea sector are women. Through training provided by ITC, farmers are increasing their incomes, in some cases by more than 20 per cent.

This work is helping “tea factories to enhance their energy use efficiency, which will not only contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change, but will also improve farmers' benefits,” says Mary Njenga, a bio-energy and environmental scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre, who comes from a tea-growing family in the region.

In Peru, ITC encourages a balanced male-female employee ration in MSMEs to ensure female employees are valued and receive equal pay and working conditions.

Read the full story: Kenya: Empowering Women in Agriculture With Environmental Knowledge