How Rural Businesses Are Confronting the Climate Crisis

While you sip your morning brew, consider this: By 2050, the area suitable for most coffee production is expected to decline by around 50%. The culprit? Climate change. Your daily dose of coffee depends on specific climate conditions, mostly found in mountainous regions of the tropics. But climate change is shifting conditions in coffee-growing regions, primarily through higher temperatures,…

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Topics: Advisory Services | Environment | Stories of Impact |

Bringing Climate Action to Farming Communities: Root Capital’s Climate Resilience Roadmap

This week, Hurricane Iota became the strongest storm ever to hit Nicaragua. The category four storm ripped across the country with torrential rains and winds topping 155mph, mere weeks after the same communities were devastated by Hurricane Eta. In Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, the 550 members of the Flor de Cafe coffee cooperative…

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Topics: Environment | News and Announcements |

Un futuro más sostenible para las abejas—y los apicultores—en el sur de México

En la península de Yucatán, México, ubicada lejos del mar, la ciudad de Cacaptxa está llena de abejas. En esta comunidad maya, la miel es más que un negocio, es un punto de referencia cultural. Muchas familias han criado abejas durante generaciones. Algunos aún recuerdan cuando la miel se usaba en lugar de las visitas al médico para cerrar las…

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Topics: Advisory Services | En Español | Environment | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture |

A More Sustainable Future for Bees—and their Keepers—in Southern Mexico

On Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, nestled far from the sea, the town of Kankabchen is teeming with honeybees. In this Maya community, honey is more than just a business—it’s a cultural touchstone. Families have raised bees for generations. Some can still remember when honey was used in place of doctors’ visits to close wounds and treat cataracts. Lidia Maribel Moo Poot…

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Topics: Advisory Services | Environment | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture |

These Guatemalan Farmers Are Harnessing the Power of Digital Data With Help From Root Capital

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.

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Topics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | Environment | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Stories of Impact |

To Adapt to a Changing Climate, Coffee Farmers Need Bold Allies

The saw makes a grinding sound as Albert, a young Ugandan agronomist, maneuvers it back and forth slowly, cutting through the trunk of the coffee tree. His colleague Ambrose stands next to him, bracing the tree and readying himself to carefully lower it to the ground once the trunk is severed. They repeat the process, one, two, three times for a single tree, cutting away three small trunks almost to the stump—until there’s just a single spindly-looking branch remaining.

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Topics: East Africa | Environment | Partnerships | Stories of Impact |

What Fair Trade And Other Coffee Certifications Mean For Farmer Livelihoods

Certifications give consumers insights into where their coffee comes from. But with so many certifications out there, figuring out what each one means can be challenging. Here's a short guide to help you understand the major coffee certifications—and what getting certified means for our client businesses and coffee farmers.

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Topics: Environment | Livelihoods |

How Climate Change Impacts Women Farmers—and What We’re Doing About It

Maria Eufemia Madonado Ocaño holds a small leaf in her hands, mottled yellow where it should be vibrant and green. This leaf represents her livelihood, decimated by la roya—a fungus that develops when conditions are warmer and wetter than usual. The yellow spots are a symptom, but the disease is climate change.

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Topics: Environment | News and Announcements | Women in Agriculture |

How Root Capital and the IKEA Foundation are Building the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers in East Africa

Photo: USAID/Siegfried Modola Root Capital and the IKEA Foundation are announcing a new partnership, worth €4.8 million, to help 260,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda increase their income and adapt to climate change. The grant builds on the success of a previous partnership, through which Root Capital supported dozens of Kenyan agricultural businesses, helping them break the cycle of poverty in rural communities.

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Topics: East Africa | Environment | Livelihoods | News and Announcements |

With the Support of Her Co-op, Coffee Farmer Ana Delia Becerra Is Branching Out Into Ecotourism

By the time the sun rises at Finca Eskandia, the farm has already come alive.

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Topics: Environment | Peace | South America | Stories of Impact |