Women In Agriculture Initiative (WAI) Annual Report
The Women in Agriculture Initiative (WAI), now in its 12th 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 $700 million in gender-inclusive and women-led enterprises, reaching more than half a million women employees and farmers.
Key Findings
As of Q2 2024, we have:
invested $700 million (of our cumulative $859 million 2025 goal) in gender-inclusive and women-led enterprises
reached 665k rural women through our lending (compared to our cumulative 2025 goal of 1.2 million)
reached 332 gender-inclusive businesses (of the cumulative 2025 goal of 492)
provided 75 clients with Gender Equity Advisory (GEA) services, out of our cumulative 2025 goal of 103.
Learn More:
Root Capital launched the Women in Agriculture Initiative (WAI) in 2012 to identify and address the systemic inequities that rural women face. Since then, the WAI has grown to an organization-wide strategy reaching more than 665,000 women farmers and employees across the globe.
To interview Root Capital’s Director of Women in Agriculture Initiative, or request that she speak at your event, please see Leonor Gutiérrez’s speaker profile below.
Caption: Linet is a Talent Partner at Sagana Nuts in Kenya.