Supporting Biodiversity in Latin America: Sustainable Coffee Production Practices Are Key
“The eco.business Fund Development Facility Supports Agricultural Businesses Contributing to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Through a Broad Range of Activities”
Latin American countries are currently the leading coffee producers worldwide, with Brazil and Colombia leading the pack. And although production is strong, coffee plants are threatened by climate change and the longevity of one of the most important and dynamic sectors for social and economic growth in Latin America depends upon sustainable practices.
Via local financial institutions, the eco.business Fund (the Fund) provides funding to businesses that follow sustainable practices in the coffee sector and thus also help to protect biodiversity in Latin America. To create a stronger impact, the Fund’s Development Facility decided to support and promote various activities and event sponsorships, co-sponsoring and co-organizing coffee-related events. Attendees of these events typically range from representatives of partner financial institutions and their borrowers, to international producers and distributors specialized in the field. The events address topics such as standards and certifications, sustainable farming methods, innovative techniques, and major trends in the coffee sector, with the objective to promote awareness of the need for a sustainable coffee industry which also helps to maintain biodiversity in one of the most megadiverse regions in the world.
One example of these events is the III Coffee Forum in San Salvador, organized by Banco Hipotecario, one of the Fund’s partner institutions. Under the motto ‘towards sustainable profitability’, the bank organized the event on 7 December 2017, which was co-sponsored by the eco.business Fund Development Facility. The forum was attended by more than 250 people, producers, beneficiaries and exporters, international experts from the coffee sector, and clients from the bank.
To further support the coffee sector in the region, the Fund itself also published new videos, stories and infographics on the topic, such as:
● Video and success story on sustainable coffee producer Café Casal
● eco.business Fund with strong presence at the World Coffee Science Summit in El Salvador
● Sustainable practice infographic and crop profile on coffee production
About the eco.business Fund
The eco.business Fund is spearheading the promotion of business practices that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change mitigation and adaptation through private enterprises. By providing financing for business practices that conserve nature and foster biodiversity, the fund seeks investments with both financial and environmental returns. The fund mainly provides loans to qualified local financial institutions that lend the money to eligible borrowers, which include holders of recognized certifications or those making improvements in line with conservation and biodiversity goals. The fund supports sustainable operations in the sectors of agriculture, fishery, forestry and eco-tourism.
The eco.business Fund was initiated by Germany’s KfW Development Bank and Conservation International with financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It has received further donor support from the European Commission. The additional investor base comprises Dutch development bank FMO, the Austrian development bank OeEB and institutional investors such as sustainable banking institution ASN Bank, German ethical bank GLS, Calvert Impact Capital, and Raiffeisen Bank International. Finance in Motion, a leading impact investing company, is also an investor.
Operating hand-in-hand with the eco.business Fund, the eco.business Development Facility provides high-impact technical assistance at the sector level to local lending institutions and final borrowers.For more information please visit www.ecobusiness.fund and follow us on Twitter @ecobusinessfund