Women in Agriculture Initiative: 2021 Annual Report
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. With the support of our donors and investors, like the Wagner Foundation, we:
- Ensured that, for the first time ever, over half of the businesses we worked with were gender inclusive;
- Reached all-time high participation rates by women in our workshops on skills such as accounting, leadership, and agronomy;
- Launched savings and credit cooperatives to expand women’s access to finance in East Africa;
- Presented our findings and lessons with social entrepreneurs, rural changemakers, and world leaders to catalyze gender lens investing and gender equity in rural communities.
As we celebrate a decade of the Women in Agriculture Initiative, Root Capital is proud of our community’s achievements over the past 10 years and excited for the impact we can have together in the years to come.
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.
Over two years, the Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) project used impact-linked financing to extend $12M in credit to previously underbanked agricultural enterprises across Latin America. Learn more about the project's success and the implications this has for future impact-linked financing projects.
This report analyzes the impact of Root Capital lending and advisory services on a sorghum aggregator in Ghana and the impact of that enterprise on its suppliers and local community. Read on for exciting findings about Root Capital's engagement with the business.
In 2018, Root Capital launched a pilot program of a Farmer Financial Literacy training with sorghum farmers in Ghana and conducted a randomized control trial to evaluate its impacts. We present this report on the programs' findings and lessons learned for future interventions.
In the first half of 2021, we expanded financing to climate action leaders; delivered tailored agronomic and climate resilience advisory services to enterprise staff; designed a new loan product to finance soil regeneration efforts; and so much more. Read about how we're advancing our Climate Resilience Roadmap in partnership with rural communities.
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.
In the face of daunting challenges, local leaders in Latin America are innovating to meet these challenges with creative solutions. By investing in these solutions, we can build a greener, more inclusive future across the region and around the world.
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.
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.
In 2020, our world faced challenges that none of us could have predicted. In the face of uncertainty, Root Capital, our supporters, and our client agricultural enterprises around the world took action. Together, we were able to keep rural communities safe by protecting lives and preserving livelihoods.
