Gender Equity

The Women in Agriculture Initiative (WAI), now in its 11th year, expands access to finance to more women-led and gender-inclusive businesses across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The WAI was launched in 2012 to promote gender equity and inclusion for women in agriculture. The initiative has already transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of women in developing economies by unlocking the potential of investing in businesses committed to gender equity. Since 2012, Root Capital has invested $621 million in gender-inclusive and women-led enterprises, reaching more than half a million women employees and farmers. Descargar reporte (Español)

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Our biennial report covers two years of progress, highlighting our impact pathways, two client stories, financials from the years, and more.  View Report

This case study showcases how three CSAF members turned their gender intentions into action, each focusing on the entry point and gender lens investing (GLI) actions most aligned with their business and impact priorities. It was created in partnership with Root Capital, Value for Women, and CSAF.

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Approximately, 2.5 billion people worldwide rely on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. Most of them live below the poverty line. Especially women. In 2012, Root Capital launched our Women in Agriculture (WAI) Initiative to expand access to finance and technical assistance to more women-led and gender-inclusive businesses. 10 years later, our Director of Women in Agriculture Initiative, Leonor Gutiérrez,…

Over the past 10 years, Root Capital's Women in Agriculture Initiative has helped expand gender equity in hundreds of rural communities around the world. In 2021, we reached new heights alongside women farmers, agricultural employees, and entrepreneurs.

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In the first half of 2021, Root Capital continued to invest in the success of women farmers, employees, and entrepreneurs through our Women in Agriculture Initiative. Our 2021 Mid-year Update provides an update on our progress this year, and our cumulative progress since the initiative's launch in 2012.

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In 2019, Root Capital piloted an innovative approach to strengthening women’s inclusion and climate resilience, in partnership with coffee cooperatives in Mexico and Central America. The evaluation uncovered key lessons for philanthropic and business partners. View Article

Take a look around any farming community and you’ll see countless hardworking women producing the food and other commodities that nourish our world. Women plant and tend crops, collect the harvest when it’s ready, work in sorting and processing facilities, oversee finances, manage business operations, train farmers and employees, and own rural enterprises. They constitute 43% of the agricultural workforce…

Gender lens investing is an increasingly popular approach for impact-focused investors. In just the last few years, the number of firms investing with a gender lens has exploded, and these firms have gone from raising $1.1 billion in capital in 2017 to $4.8 billion in 2019. On top of that, the global 2X Challenge…

This report documents Root Capital’s gender lens investing journey, capturing the organization’s goals and motivations, path toward realizing those goals, challenges faced, results of the work, factors behind success, and key learning.

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