Note: Click here to learn more about how we conduct impact studies in rural communities. In Ghana’s Eastern Region, the world’s first organic- and Fair Trade-certified oil palm enterprise, Serendipalm, sources oil palm fruit from over 500 smallholder farmers. Eight hundred kilometers north, in the Upper East Region, a sorghum aggregator called Faranaya purchases grain from close to…
Read moreTopics: Livelihoods | News and Announcements | Stories of Impact | West Africa |
In the highlands of Nicaragua, coffee farms dot the countryside, powering an industry worth nearly $500 million. Coffee is a big business-both in Nicaragua and globally-but it’s driven by small-scale farmers who are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living. Here’s what it looks like: Lucía’s* family has grown coffee for generations. But what was once a profitable career…
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America |
Since 2007, the all-women AMPROCAL coffee cooperative in Ocotepeque, Honduras has worked hard to connect farmers with higher prices for their coffee on the international market. Starting with just eight members, they’ve grown to over 150 today. That means they’re able to improve livelihoods and grow inclusion for more farmers across the region. For the last four years, Root Capital…
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Food Security | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture |
When Donald Delgado took the helm of UNICAFEC last November, the coffee cooperative was at a crossroads. Since its founding in 2001, the cooperative had been led by one man, Alfredo Alarcón, and his sudden death left a hole in the community’s heart—not to mention real fears for the businesses’ future. Donald himself worked under Alfredo’s leadership for more than…
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Livelihoods | South America | Stories of Impact |
During this global pandemic, one of the most glaring shortages is access to reliable information. That’s particularly true in the rural communities where we work. As public health and economic responses focus on the concerns of dense, urban areas, rural communities are being left behind. But it’s impossible to design an effective response in these communities without information on how…
Read moreTopics: Livelihoods | News and Announcements | Our Community | Stories of Impact |
As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of resilient, farmer-focused agricultural enterprises have never been clearer. For example, in Colombia, Root Capital client Federación Campesina del Cauca (FCC) is helping its farmers adapt to social distancing and other restrictions during the all-important coffee harvest season. Sustainable Harvest, one of FCC’s largest buyers and a Root…
Read moreTopics: Livelihoods | Our Community | Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact |
Note: This blog is the final post in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures and manages the impact of our lending. Read parts one, two, and three. Impact measurement and management is at the heart of Root Capital’s work, helping us optimize our efforts to transform rural communities. By measuring our impact, we…
Read moreTopics: Livelihoods | News and Announcements | South America | Stories of Impact |
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 | Mexico and Central America | 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 |
This post originally appeared on the website of the Pace Able Foundation. The town of Lonya Grande sits in the mountainous region of Amazonas, Peru. It is here, hours by car from the nearest major city, that the coffee cooperative CECAFE has its headquarters. Members of the cooperative live even farther afield, down winding roads in the shadows of the Cutervo National Park.
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | Livelihoods | Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact |
