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It is vital to recog- to provide advocacy and education for the disabled com- rooted in its deep and at times discriminatory and unsus- conflict and displacement which were based in Ecuador.
nize and address munity. The broader impact that The Lucy Foundation tainable history. How could this group of university stu- And another one was, at the time I was probably 24
dents actively transform the global coffee industry through
has had on the coffee industry as a whole, including how
years old, and even though I had embraced my own
the barriers that in- it has helped to shift attitudes towards hiring and working an end-to-end value chain that would be entirely inclusive disability identity, I didn’t consider myself a part of a
community. I was following my own path in peacebuild-
with people with disabilities, is a journey that has taken
of disabled people while honoring sustainable environ-
dividuals with dis- time, patience, and dedication. But the change in narrative mental practices and paying respect to the local cof- ing, and I’m still really passionate about that, but I had
kind of ignored this sense and notion that I was part of
is there and continues to manifest as human rights organ-
fee-growing communities?
abilities may face in izations continue to ride on the momentum for ameliora- with 34 years of lived experience with physical disability a global community of people who had shared experi-
Dr. Robbie Francis Watane’s road to change starts
ences as me.”
tion not only within the coffee industry but all value chains
the coffee industry, and institutions. and has worked in the disability sector for over 15 years degree at the University of Otago that the Head of The
It wasn’t until Robbie had finished her master’s
as a support worker, humanitarian documentarian, re-
and to prioritize in- The Beginning of a Road Towards Inclu- searcher, activist, consultant, and advisor. She has expe- Disability Information Support said to her: “It’s wonder-
sivity
rience working with disabled people all over the world.
ful that you’re studying this far off conflict and done re-
clusivity and acces- Her advocacy work has taken her to France, Bangladesh, ally cool stuff in that area, but have you ever thought about
In 2014, university student Robbie Francis Watene India, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, where she has also how disabled people around the world live?”
sibility in all aspects loved drinking coffee while navigating her burgeoning led pivotal research on gender, war, peacebuilding and “And at that time, it was an incredibly confronting
academic career at the University of Otago. One day, she disability rights. question for me. I was proud of who I was as a disabled
and sectors. and her friends decided to do something bold and disrup- “Even though I’d been disabled my whole life, I woman, but I didn’t actively seek out the company or the
tive, and little did they know of the impact it would have didn’t start in disability advocacy. I actually have a camaraderie of other disabled people and I learned that
on the road to disability rights advocacy, especially with- background in international peacebuilding, and a couple that’s a form of internalized ableism. And so her question
in the coffee industry. Having learned about the disad- of experiences exposed me to how disabled people live sat with me, her question really weighed on me. Really
vantages experienced by disabled people around the world, around the world. One of them was through my PHD grated me, and I just couldn’t shake it. I could hear her
they knew that a response was imperative if shifts in at- that looked at disabled people’s experiences of war, words go round and round in my head.”
titudes were to be accomplished and if the discourse was
to be reshuffled to reflect constructive improvements.
This is how TLF was born - named after Dr. Francis Wa-
An estimated 1.3 billion people experience signifi- tene’s prosthetic, “Lucy Leg”.
cant disability. This represents 16 per cent of the world’s Robbie was born with a condition called Phocomelia,
population, or 1 in 6 of us. In Aotearoa, 24% of New which meant that the bones in the lower half of her body
Zealanders live with a disability. Employment rate for failed to develop properly before birth. She learned to
people with disabilities in New Zealand is 22.5%, compared walk on a prosthetic leg, familiarly known as “Lucy Leg”.
to 75.8% for people without disabilities, according to “When I was a toddler I couldn’t say ‘prosthesis’. I couldn’t
Statistics New Zealand, indicating significant barriers to say ‘artificial leg’. So my parents nicknamed it ‘Lucy Leg’.
employment for people with disabilities in New Zealand, And ‘Lucy Leg’ has been, literally, every step of the jour-
potentially factored by discrimination, inaccessibility, and ney. That’s what I started with because it embodies the
stigma. The Lucy Foundation is the world’s first totally courage and the beauty that I find in the world, that I had
disability-inclusive value chain of coffee, working with to teach myself, that I had to take ownership of, power
local communities to develop inclusive, ethical and sus- over, and control over. Because I live in a world that isn’t
tainable trade in the coffee industry and has been going designed for people like me. So TLF for me is the epitome
steady for ten years. It is a mission that matters if the of that experience. It’s bringing that courage, and being
coffee industry is to continue its trajectory as a sustaina- courageous in our business decisions. Not just financially
ble and ethical commodity. This social enterprise provides but with the people we work with. Bringing people on that
and supports disabled people through training, awareness journey. Shifting their attitudes.”
and employment by working with the local population in Robbie and her university friends started to think about
Oaxaca, Mexico to generate an environment in which an how things could be done differently, and how they could
inclusive culture and community for the disabled popu- lead by example. How could the value of diversity be demon-
lation are prevalent. strated in business? They turned to the commodity chain,
This road is long and winding, complex and at times and thought: what product can’t Kiwis live without, and
shrouded in uncertainty, but the tangible plan is to create would be willing to pay more for if they knew it had been
more job opportunities and promote inclusion for people produced in an ethical and disability-inclusive way?
with disabilities in the coffee industry and beyond through Coffee is loved all over the world. It is enjoyed and
sustainable and ethical initiatives and programs developed consumed in a multitude of ways, with rituals and stories

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