Root Capital clients grow rural prosperity by creating sustainable livelihoods. Since our founding, Root Capital has worked in Central America. Most clients in the region process coffee for export, although there is also strong growth in fruit and vegetable production.
CECOCAFEN, is a Fair Trade-certified association of more than 2,500 small-scale coffee producers in the North-Central highlands of Nicaragua. A Root Capital client since 2003, CECOCAFEN actively supports gender inclusion through initiatives such as savings group for women, which provide 600 women producers with access to micro-loans and household savings products.
PRODECOOP’s motto—“Behind every cup of coffee, there is a family”—inspires this cooperative’s gender, education, and health programs for members and their families. PRODECOOP is a second-level coffee association serving 2,300 small-scale farmers in Nicaragua’s north-central mountains. A Root Capital client since 2003, they have received more than $9.5 million in loans.
“A woman’s independence can only be achieved through economic autonomy and awareness,” says Fatima Ismael, general manager of SOPPEXCCA, a Fair Trade and organically certified coffee grower cooperative located in the jungles of Jinotega, Nicaragua. The coffee cooperative is known for its emphasis on gender inclusion and the empowerment of women farmers; 40 percent of its members are women.