Poverty Footprint Study on how the Coca Cola - Oxfam America

11
Value chain: Diversity and
women’s participation
Headlines
Women involved in sugar growing and harvesting face
traditional gender biases, thus limiting their ability to earn
an income, own land, access credit and build their skills.
Very few women work in SABMiIIer’s bottling
plants in both countries, despite nondiscrimination
policies in place.
Women play a significant role in the retail of Coca-Cola
products, yet their ability to be successful is hindered by
lack of access to credit, training and support networks.
60 Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction
Women represent a large proportion of the world’s
poor and face unique barriers when seeking
education, employment and health care. Women are
more likely than men to be denied basic rights, they
often have a limited role in decision making and are
more vulnerable to violence. Complex systems of
discrimination prevent women from breaking through
the barriers that often consign them to live in poverty.
Women are often underrepresented in the most
secure jobs in society and overrepresented in the
most vulnerable forms of informal work. 58 Promoting
gender equality and women’s full participation
in economies can help drive economic growth:
numerous studies have shown that when women’s
incomes increase, family health, education and wellbeing
improve.
Women’s empowerment
Women in both countries face numerous forms of
gender-based discrimination, which limits their ability
to fully contribute to economic and social value
creation in their communities. In Zambia, many girls
are prevented from going to school in favor of early
marriage—an estimated one out of four girls ages 15
to 19 is married, divorced or widowed. Polygamy is