MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund Loans $800k to Organic Sesame Exporter Bioexport of Paraguay

The Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund, an investment vehicle managed by a unit of the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, recently announced that it has invested in Bioexport, a Paraguayan firm that purchases sesame and other crops directly from farmers and cooperatives for export. Triodos tells MicroCapital that the loan is in the amount of USD 800,000, with a term running from February to December 2015, a time period selected to coincide with the sesame harvest. The funding will enable the firm to purchase crops at the “very beginning of the harvest, paying a fair price to the farmers and further promoting organic practices.” Among Bioexport’s services are supporting farmers in becoming certified as organic producers and contributing to irrigation and drinking-water projects.

Founded in 2009, Bioexport exports approximately 5,000 metric tons of sesame per year. The Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund, which was launched in 2008, disbursed investments totaling EUR 30 million (USD 38 million) during 2014. Triodos Bank, Triodos Investment Funds and Triodos Private Banking report aggregate total assets under management of EUR 10.6 billion (USD 13 billion) as of 2014.

By the MicroCapital Team

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with Triodos

Triodos newsletter, https://www.triodos.com/en/investment-management/who-we-are/news/newsletter-emerging-markets/paraguay-sustainable-sesame-market/

MicroCapital Universe Profile on Triodos Investment Management, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Triodos+Investment+Management

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