Germany-based development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) recently notified MicroCapital that the Fairtrade Access Fund (FAF), which invests in initiatives supporting farmers in developing countries, has loaned USD 750,000 to Cooperativa DelosAndes, a Colombia-based coffee cooperative, to co-finance a wet mill. The mill, which will be the cooperative’s third, is expected “to save around 50 million litres of water per year.” Established in 1961, Cooperativa DelosAndes has 3,600 members, the majority of whom hold less than five hectares of land.
FAF “provides farmers’ cooperatives and associations…trade finance, working capital and long-term loans…”. To qualify for financing, investees must acquire third-party certification that they meet environmental, labor and other standards. FAF was launched in 2012 by German NGO Fairtrade International; the US-based Grameen Foundation; KfW; and Incofin Investment Management, a Belgian for-profit microfinance investment manager. As of December 2016, the fund reports USD 28 million in loans outstanding to cooperatives, microfinance institutions, traders and processors in 16 countries in Latin America and Africa.
By Matthew O’Neill, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Information:
Information provided directly to MicroCapital by KfW
About Cooperativa DelosAndes:
http://cooperandes.com/somos.html
Fairtrade Access Fund:
https://www.incofin.com/en/fund/fairtrade-access-fund
About FLO-Cert:
http://www.flocert.net/about-us/our-role-in-the-fairtrade-system/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Starbucks to Commit Additional $30m to Global Farmer Fund Program; Fairtrade Access Fund, Root Capital to Assist with Loans to Coffee Farmers:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-starbucks-to-commit-additional-30m-to-global-farmer-fund-program-fairtrade-access-fund-root-capital-to-assist-with-loans-to-coffee-farmers/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fairtrade Access Fund Loans $1.8m to Coffee, Cacao, Sugar Cooperatives COAGRICSAL of Honduras, UCOSEMUN of Nicaragua, NORANDINO of Peru:
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fairtrade-access-fund-loans-1-8m-to-coffee-cacao-sugar-cooperatives-coagricsal-of-honduras-ucosemun-of-nicaragua-norandino-of-peru/
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