For macadamia farmers in Sagana, Kenya, climate change is more than an existential threat—it’s a daily reality. Climate change has disrupted the traditional macadamia planting and harvesting seasons and brought unpredictable rainfall patterns. Macadamia trees experience more frequent climate shocks, which result in their flowering too early and producing more immature macadamia nuts throughout the harvesting season.
As a macadamia nut processor and Root Capital client, Sagana Nuts Limited builds market access for more than 5,000 local macadamia farmers. The agricultural business is committed to the sustainability and growth of the Kenyan macadamia industry. Thanks to financing and agronomic and climate resilience advisory services from Root Capital, Sagana Nuts has been able to offer quality grafted macadamia seedlings to their smallholder farmers and train them on sustainable, cost-effective agricultural practices such as pest management and transitioning to organic compost from chemical fertilizer. This tailored training helps the macadamia farmers that supply Sagana Nuts better prepare for the challenges of climate change, increase crop yields and quality, and raise their income.
It’s with clients like Sagana Nuts in mind that Root Capital launched our Climate Resilience Roadmap in 2020. Under the Roadmap, we seek to foster clients’ resilience by equipping them with the knowledge and financing needed to confront climate shocks and adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
In honor of Earth Day, we're releasing the 2023 Annual Report for our Climate Resilience Roadmap, which describes key activities and accomplishments from the past year. We’re pleased to share our progress providing climate advisory services and capital to almost 250 agricultural businesses benefiting more than 500,000 smallholder farmers. In particular, we achieved an important milestone in our climate lending activities, disbursing more than $1.5 million in targeted climate action loans in 2023. While promising, we know more progress is urgently needed to close the widening climate adaptation finance gap, and we look forward to collaborating with partners to address this global challenge.
Crucially, our work is translating into impact for our clients and their farmers. With Root Capital’s holistic support, agricultural businesses are implementing new climate adaptation plans, creating organic fertilizers for farmers, establishing business nurseries for climate-resilient crops and shade trees, and generally innovating to meet the realities of a changing climate.
A special thank you to our growing community of dedicated climate funders for making this work possible, including the Gordon & Llura Gund Foundation, Grant & Lara Gund Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc., Swiss Re Foundation, the Innovation Laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB Lab), Trafigura Foundation, Vitol Foundation, Waverley Street Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development.
To learn more about our approach to building the climate resilience of rural communities, read the full report. Find the report in Spanish here.
About the Author
Kelly Acheson is the Content Development and Communications Manager at Root Capital.
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