Resilient Cocoa Farming IV

Small cocoa producers feeding the planet.

Resumen de la inversión

Categoría de impacto

Sistemas agroalimentarios

Tipo de inversión

Préstamo

Interés anual

4.75

Plazo

meses

Nivel de riesgo

B+

Working Capital Associates provides direct financing to value chains of agriculture products from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Latin America (Latam). So far, the company has raised 850.000€ through GoParity to fund three different organizations: a coffee cooperative in Peru (Peruvian Resilient Farming I and II); a cocoa company in Peru (Resilient Cocoa Farming I, II, and III); and a family-owned cocoa company in Ecuador (Ecuadorian Cocoa Farming I and II). Three out of these seven campaigns (total amount of 250.000€ lent) have successfully reached their payment plan maturity. All investors have received their full capital invested and interest.

This is the fourth campaign aimed at providing working capital to this fair trade, certified, female-owned, and female-led Peruvian organization dedicated to the aggregation, processing, and selling of cocoa and its derivatives (after Resilient Cocoa Farming I, II, and III). Operating with more than 3.000 local producers in the regions of Cajamarca, San Martín, Amazonas, and Huánuco, which collectively produce 55% of the total cocoa produced in Peru, for a total aggregate of 23.400 metric tons per year.

The Company is located in Tarapoto (San Martin) and concentrates 10% of the local market share, ranking as the third-largest cocoa bean marketer in Peru. Its vision is to improve the quality of life of its farming partners, offering training and technical assistance, and to be recognized by the local and international community as a high-quality supplier, developing customized products, with commitment, ethics, and trust. This vision and strategy are reinforced by several certifications, from which Fair Trade (Comércio Justo) and USDA Organic should be highlighted.

The Fair Trade Certification is particularly relevant, as it places the Company in the 13% out of the 33 million global cocoa producers that have achieved such certification which, among others, ensures that the cocoa processing and procurement are free of child slavery labor – the Fair Trade certification is particularly strict in this regard, and with yearly inspections in the sourcing farms, has no tolerance for any abusive labor practices.

Peru is the sixth-largest producer of cocoa worldwide, the second-largest organic cocoa producer (after the Dominican Republic), and the number one fair-trade organic cocoa producer worldwide. The worldwide demand for cocoa is growing and especially the demand for certified cocoa is expected to continue to grow in Europe over the next years, with two clear increasing trends: search for sustainable (certified) chocolate products, i.e. cocoa bean production that complies with social, environmental and economic aspects and where the whole process is successfully certified by a third party; and towards authentic ingredients and single origin cocoa products.

Less than ten years ago, thousands of farmers used their plots in the Northern Highlands of the Selva region to grow coca - while coca provided a steady income in remote regions, the illicit crop also brought with it the violence of drug traffickers and their allies. The government was eager to eradicate it and with the collaboration of the military, police, local, regional, and national governments, and initiatives from international donors and the private sector, Peruvian coca farmers were converted to cocoa (and coffee) farming and Peru has, in the last years, quickly built a global reputation for producing traditionally cultivated, shade-grown, high-quality cocoa beans.

¿Cuál es el impacto?

This is the third campaign aimed at providing working capital for the same female-owned company of small cocoa producers in Peru. This is the direct impact of these campaigns:

Direct:

Improve the financial health of smallholder producers: through providing the organization with transactional working capital, 3.000 small Peruvian cocoa farmers can have the needed liquidity required for a stable production process.
Improve smallholder productivity: through providing technical and organic and fair-trade certifications assistance, training, education, social and health support to the farmers and their families, the Company promotes improved working conditions and access to an international export value chain to small producers, who own less than two hectares of land.
Reduction of rural poverty: 3.000 smallholder farmer families will receive a higher profit margin for their produce, which can be allocated to more than pure subsistence.

Indirect:

Promotion of organic and fair-trade production: all the cocoa produced is organic and certified by a third party. The production contributes to protecting the Selva Region, in the Peruvian Northern Highlands. With a shade crop, cocoa can be grown in forests and agroforestry systems, thus helping to enrich soils and protect them against erosion. Also, the fair-trade certification ensures that the processing and procurement of cocoa are guaranteed free of child labour, and there is no tolerance for any abusive labour practices.
Promotion of gender equality: the company is fully owned by its female CEO.

Indicadores de impacto
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750

people

impacted

Contribución a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible
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Sobre el promotor

About

WCA (Working Capital Associates) LLP

Working Capital Associates (WCA) se fundó en 2018 por Federica Sambiase – profesional senior del sector financiero y bancario – y CEO de la empresa. Experimentó de primera mano como los bancos comerciales tradicionales no conseguían adaptarse a las necesidades de los prestatarios de PYMES y sus requisitos hechos a medida, especialmente en regiones como SSA y Latam, donde la necesidad de crédito crecía rápidamente.

La visión de WCA refleja más de 20 años de experiencia de su líder en el mundo de las finanzas, así como la pasión por el desarrollo e igualdad de género, madurada y nutrida durante sus años como miembro de la junta directiva de la ONG Care International.

WCA es la única empresa – liderada por mujeres y cuya propiedad es totalmente femenina- que proporciona financiación directa a la cadena de valor de productos agrícolas en África subsahariana (SSA) y Latinoamérica (Latam).

WCA está comprometida con un enfoque de negocio profesional, ético y transparente, efectuando inversiones socialmente responsables “que permiten a los inversores abordar los criterios medioambientales, sociales y de gobernanza empresarial (ASG) mediante la inversión en soluciones específicas, como por ejemplo la energía renovable, gestión de residuos y agua, silvicultura y agricultura, productos de salud e inclusión financiera ” (PRI).

La empresa sigue dos cuestiones clave:

La empresa también aplica inversión en lentes de género, procurando financiar un nivel significativo de negocios liderados por mujeres que siguen los estándares de gestión sostenible y responsable.

El propósito de WCA es aumentar la cadena de valor proporcionando acceso a financiación a PYMES y enfocándose en tres principios clave dentro del marco de los ODS:

El equipo está compuesto por diez profesionales, gran parte del equipo miembros senior con más de 10 años de experiencia en mercados emergentes y/u operaciones financieras, y experiencia colectiva en financiación de más de 1 billón de dólares de deuda a corto plazo y transacciones comerciales de mercados emergentes.

Puedes saber más sobre el equipo aquí.

WCA también ha sido reconocido como un agente del mercado relevante, y como prueba de ello:

Asociación con Centro de Comercio Internacional de las Naciones Unidas, en el ámbito de apoyo comercial de actividades enfocadas de género.
Asociación con la Cámara de Comercio de Kenia.
Conferenciante en el Foro Mundial de Comercio y Desarrollo - Etiopía
Conferenciante en la Semana Sostenible de Suiza.
Conferenciante de la Cumbre Anual de Café de África del Este – Kenia.
Formador y colaborador en seminarios con la Cámara de Comercio de Kenia y del Centro de Comercio Internacional.

Sitio web del promotor

https://www.workingcapitalassociates.com/

Equipo

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Modelo de negocio
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