Posted by Katherine Borsecnik  |  March 27, 2014

As a board director and a donor, I’m in a good spot to closely track Root Capital’s progress, which also gives me regular opportunities to reevaluate the wisdom of my own investments of time and money.  While most of my work with Root Capital is done an arm’s length from the impact, I recently had my third opportunity to visit Root Capital clients, this time in Ghana with fellow board members, Root Capital staff, and my 17-year-old daughter. Here’s some of what I observed:

Topics: Livelihoods | Our Community | West Africa |

Posted by Catherine Gill  |  January 8, 2014

Wesley Weissberg (left) interviewed women leaders and producers working in the coffee industry while in Guatemala. Last October, we shared the first audio story in a two part series produced Wesley Weissberg, a longtime supporter of Root Capital and advocate of our Women in Agriculture Initiative.

Topics: Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Peace | Women in Agriculture |

Posted by Willy Foote  |  December 13, 2013

Morning coffee in northern Nicaragua with Fatima Ismael, the amazing manager of SOPPEXCCA I’ve just returned from a trip to northern Nicaragua, where we were visiting SOPPEXCCA, a 750-strong farmer coffee cooperative managed by an extraordinary leader, Fatima Ismael. Fatima and I have worked together for a decade, and I always look forward to talking to…

Topics: Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Women in Agriculture |

Posted by Root Capital  |  November 6, 2013

Last summer, Maria Eufemia Madonado Ocaño (pictured above) watched helplessly as almost all of her coffee trees died. The 52-year-old Peruvian farmer and member of Root Capital client Unicafec was unable to stop the devastating spread of coffee leaf rust, called la roya in Spanish. The fungus has been sweeping through coffee-growing regions in Central America and Peru since late 2012.

Topics: Advisory Services | Environment | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | News and Announcements | South America |

Posted by Catherine Gill  |  October 15, 2013

Lesbia Morales, President of the Farmer Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) To mark International Day of Rural Women we are excited to kick off our Root Capital blog and share with you the first of two audio stories. These stories were produced for us by Wesley Weissberg, a dear supporter of Root Capital and an…

Topics: Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Our Community | Women in Agriculture |