Posted by Kate Hyder  |  December 10, 2019

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.

Topics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | En Español | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Elizabeth Teague  |  November 18, 2019

Note: This blog post is the second in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures and manages the impact of our lending. Read parts one, three, and four.

Topics: Our Community | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Kate Hyder  |  November 5, 2019

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.

Topics: Advisory Services | Digital Business Intelligence | Livelihoods | Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Abigail Bok  |  October 15, 2019

Along the impossibly steep and narrow road winding up to the village of Sanchirio Palomar, the only sounds are the rustling tree canopy and birdsong. It’s fitting, since the village’s name—a combination of Spanish and indigenous words—means “cold river with many birds.” With internet and reliable phone service only arriving last month, Sanchirio Palomar feels, at first, like a sleepy place where not much happens. But in reality, this remote Peruvian village pulses with ambition, creativity, and drive. Just ask Patricia. 

Topics: South America | Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture |

Posted by Katie Naeve  |  October 1, 2019

Note: This blog post is the first in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures our impact and that of our clients on farming communities around the world. Read parts two, three, and four.

Topics: Our Community | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Katie Naeve  |  September 27, 2019

For years, Dora Lisa Carrión Gómez rose early every morning to open Saja, a café in the quiet Andean town of San Ignacio in northern Peru. Saja is owned and operated by members of the women’s group of APROCASSI, a coffee cooperative where, for a time, Dora Lisa also served as president. “Women have always been discriminated against,” says Dora Lisa. “But when I joined APROCASSI in 2006, I saw this new reality: a reality where women could work, could advance. A reality where women could have power.”

Topics: Stories of Impact | Women in Agriculture |

Posted by Kate Hyder  |  September 26, 2019

Wiston Vílchez had barely turned 24 when he took over as general manager of the fledgling Flor de Dalia coffee cooperative in 2014. At the time, the cooperative consisted of a handful of families who sold their coffee to local brokers at rock-bottom prices. The brokers then sold the coffee on the international market with a huge mark-up—pocketing all the profit for themselves. 

Topics: Advisory Services | Livelihoods | Mexico and Central America | Partnerships | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Kate Hyder  |  September 24, 2019

Duban Gómez Alvarado grew up expecting to one day enter the family business: coffee farming. The Alvarados have worked the flourishing fields of western Colombia for generations—but, in recent years, climate change has imperiled their crop yields. Simultaneously, the global coffee price has plummeted below the cost of production, leaving many farmers without a livable income. “For many years, we have been coffee farmers in my family,” Duban says, “but I am not convinced at the prospect of continuing with my family’s work.”

Topics: Partnerships | South America | Stories of Impact | Youth |

Posted by Abigail Bok  |  April 26, 2019

The saw makes a grinding sound as Albert, a young Ugandan agronomist, maneuvers it back and forth slowly, cutting through the trunk of the coffee tree. His colleague Ambrose stands next to him, bracing the tree and readying himself to carefully lower it to the ground once the trunk is severed. They repeat the process, one, two, three times for a single tree, cutting away three small trunks almost to the stump—until there’s just a single spindly-looking branch remaining.

Topics: East Africa | Environment | Partnerships | Stories of Impact |

Posted by Will McAneny  |  April 17, 2019

Over the past 20 years, we’ve offered hundreds of coffee businesses the capital and training they need to succeed. But to truly maximize their impact, these businesses sometimes require additional support. That’s why, in partnership with USAID Feed the Future, we launched a Resilience Fund that provides $20,000 grants to some of our highest-performing client businesses in Colombia and Peru.

Topics: Livelihoods | South America | Stories of Impact | Youth |