Access to Finance

When small and growing agricultural enterprises can access affordable financing, they have a larger impact on rural communities.

Financing catalyzes enterprise growth, which results in better incomes, services, and other support for farming families. Over more than 20 years, Root Capital has loaned $1.85 billion to agricultural enterprises worldwide, proving that these under-served businesses are bankable—and that access to finance can have a ripple effect in rural communities.

The Challenge

Too many small and growing agricultural enterprises are stuck in the “missing middle”—considered too big for microfinance and too small and risky for commercial banks. Without access to credit, cooperatives and other businesses are incredibly vulnerable to shocks, from COVID-19 to climate disaster.

But businesses with reliable financing—tailored to their unique needs and harvest cycles—are resilient. When that financing is paired with training in critical business skills, the potential for growth and innovation is boundless.

Our Approach

Provide tailored, affordable financing to under-served agricultural enterprises.

Build enterprise capacity to access and manage credit.

Pilot blended financing models to reach early-stage, riskier businesses.

Demonstrate proven models and strengthen the agricultural finance sector.

Our Impact

$1.96B

91%

2.4M

disbursed to under-served agricultural enterprises.

of our 2020 loans filled credit needs unmet by commercial lenders.

farmers and employees reached

Stories of Impact

Deepening Resilience in Rural Communities: Results from Root Capital’s Second COVID-19 Survey

During this global pandemic, one of the most glaring shortages is access to reliable information. That’s particularly true in the rural communities where we work. As public health and economic responses focus on the concerns of dense, urban areas, rural communities are being left behind. But it’s impossible to design an effective response in these communities without information on how…

Harvesting Under Quarantine: One Co-op’s Creative Approach

As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of resilient, farmer-focused agricultural enterprises have never been clearer. For example, in Colombia, Root Capital client Federación Campesina del Cauca (FCC) is helping its farmers adapt to social distancing and other restrictions during the all-important coffee harvest season. Sustainable Harvest, one of FCC’s largest buyers and a Root…

Latest Findings About Root Capital’s Impact on Rural Livelihoods

Note: This blog is the final post in a four-part series exploring how Root Capital measures and manages the impact of our lending. Read parts one, two, and three. Impact measurement and management is at the heart of Root Capital’s work, helping us optimize our efforts to transform rural communities. By measuring our impact, we…

Evaluating How Root Capital’s Client Businesses Impact Smallholder Livelihoods: Cocoa Cooperatives in Peru

This study assesses the impact of Root Capital-financed businesses in the Peruvian cocoa sector on farmer livelihoods and gender inclusion using a retrospective comparison group matching technique.

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STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW — How Investors Can Integrate Social Impact With Financial Performance to Improve Both

Root Capital is a member of the Impact Frontiers Collaboration, which developed four steps to help investors integrate impact with financial analysis in their decision-making. It could change the way investors around the world allocate capital to achieve financial, social, and environmental goals. This article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review shows how. View Article

These Guatemalan Farmers Are Harnessing the Power of Digital Data With Help From Root Capital

Since the advent of the internet, digital technology has revolutionized the coffee industry. Buyers price their contracts with algorithmic software. Roasters optimize the flavor of their beans by controlling heat to a fraction of a degree. Even baristas use high-tech kits to test the chemical makeup of their brews. But while the world has changed around them, many coffee farmers have been left out.

RAOS: Training for a More Resilient Future in Honduras

In the face of adversity, this coffee cooperative is using credit and training from Root Capital to help its farmers thrive. It all started with 19 farmers and one contract. In 1997, following a long harvest season, farmers in the highlands of Honduras banded together to export just over 5,000 pounds of coffee to a group of buyers in Germany.

Triunfo Verde: Preserving Local Ecosystems Through Economic Opportunity in Mexico

This coffee cooperative in southern Mexico is showing that responsible agriculture can help preserve natural resources. The misty forests of southern Mexico’s El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve teem with life. This cloud forest—one of the most biodiverse in the world—serves as a critical habitat for thousands of species of migratory birds and endangered animals. But fragile ecosystems like El Triunfo are…

Cómo la tecnología digital sistematiza la información para las empresas rurales

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.

How Digital Technology is Democratizing Data for Rural Businesses

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.

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