Durante años, muchos nicaragüenses se han enojado con las políticas cada vez más represivas del presidente Daniel Ortega. El pasado abril, la aprobación de una ley de impuestos impopular llevó al país al límite.
Read moreTopics: En Español | Mexico and Central America | Peace | Stories of Impact |
For years, many Nicaraguans have bristled under the increasingly repressive policies of President Daniel Ortega. Last April, the passage of an unpopular tax law tipped the country over the edge.
Read moreTopics: Mexico and Central America | Peace | Stories of Impact |
By the time the sun rises at Finca Eskandia, the farm has already come alive.
Read moreTopics: Environment | Peace | South America | Stories of Impact |
When actors across the coffee supply chain invest in quality, everyone benefits—from the farmer who earns better prices to the consumer who enjoys a better cup. Last month, we teamed up with specialty coffee pioneer Intelligentsia and coffee producers from across Colombia to learn how to make coffee better—for the people who drink it and those who grow it.
Read moreTopics: Partnerships | Peace | South America | Stories of Impact |
For the majority of Colombia’s 53-year civil war, the southern province of Cauca was a stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In the dog-eared copy of Lonely Planet that I’ve brought with me, the area isn’t even mentioned. Just ten years ago, it was not a recommended destination for tourists. Today, it not only feels safe; it feels welcoming.
Read moreTopics: Peace | South America | Stories of Impact |
In this month’s Root Capital Roundup, we explore how the illicit drug trade affects farming communities in three Latin American countries where we work… and how agricultural businesses offer people a peaceful alternative.
Read moreTopics: Mexico and Central America | Peace | South America |
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 |
On a warm, breezy day in the sleepy Congolese city of Bukavu, I find myself on the back of a boda-boda motorcycle taxi, puttering down the unpaved city streets on my way to the National Office of Coffee. Down every alleyway I catch glimpses of the morning sun glimmering off of the calm waters of Lake Kivu. It’s the first day of “Saveur du Kivu,” a celebration of the reemergence of specialty coffee in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the country’s premier coffee event. I’m here representing Root Capital, which happens to be the largest coffee lender in the region.
Read moreTopics: East Africa | Peace | Stories of Impact |
On a summer evening in Cambridge, MA, author, educator, and former ambassador Swanee Hunt sat down with activist Chantal Kayitesi and Root Capital founder and CEO Willy Foote to discuss the important role that women have played in Rwanda’s recovery from conflict. Hunt is the author of Rwandan Women Rising, a book she wrote to celebrate the visionary women who are paving the road to Rwanda’s recovery and reconciliation in the wake of the 1994 genocide.
Read moreTopics: East Africa | Our Community | Peace |
