Posted by Root Capital  |  February 12, 2014

"When we first started the cooperative, it was comprised of both men and women, but decisions were always in the hands of the men. At the time, there were women members, but they had trouble accessing training and financing. So, we changed our cooperative laws to include equality for women, to draw awareness to women’s issues through education and communication."  - Denia Alexa Marín Colindres, General Coordinator, PRODECOOP, a Root Capital client in Nicaragua 

Topics: Gender Equity | Mexico and Central America |

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: Gender Equity | Mexico and Central America |

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: Gender Equity | Mexico and Central America |

Posted by Meg Wilcox  |  December 11, 2013

Charlie Fishbein, owner of Coffee Exchange café in Providence, Rhode Island. Growing rural prosperity for the world’s poorest farmers requires collaboration across entire value chains, from the small businesses who make up our clients, to the traders, brands and retailers who purchase their products, to the consumers who value sustainably-produced goods.  At Root Capital, we don’t often celebrate consumers,…

Topics: Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | South America |

Posted by Root Capital  |  November 20, 2013

Q&A WITH ASYA TROYCHANSKY, ROOT'S IMPACT ASSESSMENT OFFICER. Asya Troychansky, Root Capital’s Impact Assessment Officer, recently returned from Guatemala where she has been overseeing Root Capital’s Cluster Study. 

Topics: Advisory Services | Client Spotlight | Mexico and Central America |

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 | Climate Action | 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: Gender Equity | Mexico and Central America |