As the world faces an outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our thoughts are with all of you in our global community. This is a difficult time, with many unknowns. But one thing is certain: we must continue being in solidarity with the most vulnerable.
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Last year, we partnered with agricultural enterprises to unlock prosperity in some of the most economically and environmentally vulnerable regions of the world. With the help of our donors and investors, we reached more than three million people in rural households. Thank you for supporting our mission to build prosperous, inclusive, and resilient rural communities.
Read moreTopics: News and Announcements | Stories of Impact |
It’s 3 o’clock in the morning. The crickets have stopped chirping and hours will pass before the rooster crows. Elizabeth Garzón Piamba is preparing the fire for breakfast while her family sleeps. After she feeds her children and gets them ready for school, she heads out to work as the sun just peeks over the horizon. Elizabeth is a coffee farmer. And she has 4,000 trees to take care of.
Read moreTopics: Our Community | South America | Women in Agriculture |
Since the advent of the internet, digital technology has revolutionized the coffee industry. Buyers price their contracts with algorithmic software. Roasters optimize the flavor of their beans by controlling heat to a fraction of a degree. Even baristas use high-tech kits to test the chemical makeup of their brews. But while the world has changed around them, many coffee farmers have been left out.
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | Environment | Livelihoods | Stories of Impact |
Note: This blog post is the third in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures and manages the impact of our lending. Read parts one and two. Several years ago, a mango farmer in Burkina Faso told us something that forever changed our approach to impact evaluation.
Read moreTopics: Our Community | Stories of Impact |
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the lush, coffee-growing region of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Northern Colombia. The Sierra Nevada is a unique coastal mountain range—with altitudes reaching well above 18,000 feet within sight of the Caribbean. Its rugged and steep geography makes travel to the region quite difficult. Driving to a farm only 14 miles from town took me almost four hours.
Read moreTopics: Our Community | Partnerships | South America |
"What coffee variety do you think has the lowest quality?” Intelligentsia Coffee’s Director of Sourcing and Shared Value Michael Sheridan asked this question to a room of farmers and business leaders in Honduras last month. “Lempira!” came the unanimous reply. Michael asked a follow-up question: “What is the variety you have planted most on your farms?” Again, the room called out in unison, “Lempira!”
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | Stories of Impact |
La versión original de este blog apareció en inglés en el sitio web del Pace Able Foundation. La cooperativa cafetalera CECAFE se encuentra en Lonya Grande, el cual es un pueblo ubicado en la región montañosa de la región Amazonas, Perú, a un par de horas en carro de la ciudad principal más cercana. Los socios de la cooperativa viven aún más afuera, por caminos serpenteantes próximos al Parque Nacional Cutervo.
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | En Español | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact |
Root Capital is pleased to welcome Frances Reid as our new Chief Operating Officer. We recently sat down to learn more about her background and what brought her to Root Capital.
Read moreTopics: News and Announcements | Our Community | Staff Profiles |
Note: This blog post is the second in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures and manages the impact of our lending. Read part one here.
Read moreTopics: Our Community | Stories of Impact |
