The challenges now facing the coffee sector are unprecedented. The small producers that grow our coffee face sustained low prices, constantly shifting weather patterns, and a long road to recovery from the epidemic of coffee leaf rust that struck a few years ago. By strategically supporting the coffee enterprises working with these small producers, we can empower local businesses to channel much-needed resources and information to vulnerable farmers.
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We’re excited to share that we’ve been awarded a four-star rating from independent evaluator Charity Navigator for the twelfth year in a row. This top rating is given to nonprofits that demonstrate the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and financial health. Receiving it twelve years running places Root Capital among the top 1% of all nonprofits in the United States. What does this mean for you, as a supporter of Root Capital? It means you can feel confident that your donation is making a real difference, every day, for rural communities.
Read moreTopics: News and Announcements | Partnerships |
Alongside several pioneering organizations in development finance, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) recently testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of a market-based approach to foreign aid. Root Capital is proud to partner with OPIC to connect smallholder farmers to global markets. Our CEO and founder Willy Foote submitted the following written testimony in support of OPIC's work to place capital where it's needed most.
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Root Capital, like many impact investors, operates in the gray area between traditional philanthropy and mainstream commercial markets. As a mission-focused lender, the organization serves the financial needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises—a Fair trade coffee cooperative in Uganda or an association of women quinoa producers in Bolivia, for example.
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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 |
Pictured: Jorge Cuevas from Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers, Fátima Ismael from SOPPEXCCA, Willy Foote, Angelique Karekezi from Rwashoscco, and Ruben Espinoza from Cenfrocafe Last week, the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) recognized Root Capital founder and CEO Willy Foote with its 2016 Leadership Medal of Merit. The CQI medal has been presented annually for the past decade during the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Expo, which took place April 14 to 17 in Atlanta.
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Today, we're thrilled to announce the release of our latest issue brief, Investing in Resilience: A Shared Value Approach to Agricultural Extension. This issue brief is the third in a series supported by the Skoll Foundation and the Citi Foundation. As world leaders gather in Paris this week for the latest round of climate change talks, there is increasing attention on the role of agriculture as “both a victim of and a contributor to climate change.”
Read moreTopics: Environment | News and Announcements |
When I envision how to make agriculture work for the world, I think of a system that feeds the global population of nine billion that is expected by 2050 — especially those in cycles of chronic hunger and malnutrition. I think of better farming practices that increase yields and productivity, and that dramatically improve incomes for small-scale producers and the rural poor. I think of an enlightened food industry, as locally based as possible, that creates good jobs across every value chain and protects fragile ecosystems and biodiversity everywhere. And I think of agriculture as a crucial equalizer of opportunity for women and girls, one that provides dignity for the most marginalized populations on earth. Visiting with coffee farmers on the shores of Lake Kivu in western Rwanda
Read moreTopics: Environment | Food Security | News and Announcements | Partnerships |
One year ago, we published our inaugural issue brief on the emerging business case for financial institutions to conduct due diligence on the social and environmental practices of their borrowers and investees. To stimulate a broader dialogue on the topic, we also released the social and environmental scorecards that Root Capital loan officers use to evaluate the performance of our clients: small and growing businesses (SGBs) that aggregate and serve thousands of smallholder farmers.
Read moreTopics: Advisory Services | Environment | News and Announcements |
Despite the resurgence of interest and new investment in agricultural development, the supply of actionable data on the impacts of enterprises that work with smallholder farmers trails behind the demand. Our impact studies, launched in 2011 as a complement to the social and environmental metrics collected during due diligence, seek to help address the knowledge gap in the sector. In the studies, we examine the impacts that our clients, small and growing agricultural businesses, have on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and on the environment, and we determine if and how our services increase the enterprises’ impacts. Today we’re excited to release our first multi-site impact study — Improving Rural Livelihoods: A Study of Four Guatemalan Cooperatives.
Read moreTopics: Mexico and Central America | News and Announcements | Women in Agriculture |
