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.
Read moreTopics: Environment | Livelihoods |
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.
Read moreTopics: Environment | News and Announcements | Women in Agriculture |
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.
Read moreTopics: East Africa | Environment | Livelihoods | News and Announcements |
By the time the sun rises at Finca Eskandia, the farm has already come alive.
Read moreTopics: Environment | Peace | South America | Stories of Impact |
Rising temperatures. Devastating storms. Drought. To farmers, this is more than a weather report: it’s a matter of survival.
Read moreTopics: Environment |
Thirty years ago, this place looked very different. Nestled in the foothills where the Amazon rainforest meets the towering Andes Mountains, the Peruvian town of San Martín de Pangoa exudes an aura of calm. Life seems to move at a leisurely pace; ambling through the town’s mostly-unpaved streets, you’ll see mototaxis rumble slowly past indigenous women cradling their babies in brightly-colored wool blankets. The hills rising above the town are patchworked with a lattice of small farms, and every moto and pickup truck seems to be laden with nearly-bursting sacks of coffee.
Read moreTopics: Environment | Peace | South America | Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture | Youth |
In Walter Elizondo Naranjo’s office in San Antonio, Costa Rica, hangs a large banner with pictures of pineapple, bananas, and oranges. 100% orgánico, the banner proudly states. Looking at the banner, Walter grins broadly. “This is COOPEASSA.”
Read moreTopics: Environment | Mexico and Central America |
Lately, there’s been a lot of buzz about bees—and not all of it’s good. Around the world, honeybees are dying out. But what does this really mean—and how are agricultural businesses addressing this crisis?
Read moreTopics: Environment | Mexico and Central America |
When it comes to climate change, the world’s farmers are often portrayed as either victims or contributors. But what if we, instead, viewed them as part of the solution? Farmers have enormous potential to be environmental stewards, conserving vital resources for generations to come. We see this every day in our work at Root Capital. Through “climate-smart” agricultural practices – like agroforestry production or the use of drought-resistant seeds – farmers are leading the way when it comes to climate change solutions. This new video from Farming First explains how climate-smart agriculture has helped farmers around the world adapt and thrive in the face of a changing climate:
Read moreTopics: Environment |
This year, the world will consume more coffee than ever before. And industry projections point to growing demand in the years ahead, especially in emerging markets. Take China, for example. During its annual investor meeting last month, Starbucks highlighted that it’s opening the equivalent of one new store in China every day. The problem, however, is that this rising global demand for coffee cannot be met with a dwindling supply.
Read moreTopics: Environment | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | News and Announcements | Partnerships | South America |
