Impact lender Beneficial Returns disbursed a total of $129,000 to social enterprises in Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico through its Indigenous-focused Reciprocity Fund, which provides flexible, low-cost working capital.
CICAP in Guatemala received $40,000 to support Indigenous spice farmers in the remote, northern part of the country. The cooperative sources pepper, musk, chili, pumpkin seeds and cardamom from more than 3,500 farmer-members. The loan will give the company upfront cash to fulfill demand for spice processing, including drying and roasting, for its regional buyers.
“The Reciprocity Fund intentionally seeks to make loans in places like this where borrowing options are limited and where modest loans can have outsized impact,” shared Beneficial Returns’ Ted Levinson.
In Colombia, a $54,000 loan to Emprocaucho will support more than 360 smallholder rubber farmers with affordable credit and working capital.
In Mexico, a $35,000 loan will enable heirloom corn buyer Tamoa to source from about 100 smallholder farmers across 11 states.
Indigenous finance
Beneficial Returns’ Reciprocity Fund is an impact-first investment vehicle.
“This work is inherently high risk and low return,” Levinson told ImpactAlpha. “We guarantee that our Reciprocity Fund investors will lose money.”
The fund supports agriculture and agroforestry cooperatives, providing unsecured capital at an 8% annual interest rate. Investments are approved by a five-member volunteer credit committee of Indigenous community leaders.
“We’ve been exploiting Indigenous people and their lands for too long. It’s time to flip the dynamic and let the rest of the world lose a few bucks as a first and tiny step to correcting 500-plus years of abuse,” said Levinson. “If you want to reverse more than 500 years of Indigenous exploitation and earn a market-rate return, good luck with that, and we’re not interested in hearing from you.”
