Jakarta-based Kawanasi Sehat Dasacatur buys and processes wild-harvested kenari nuts, a type of tree nut, from the Indigenous Kayoa people in eastern Indonesia. The company’s partnership with mostly female Kayoa harvesters provides a reliable source of income, which helps ensure the community can remain stewards of the lands and forests where they live.
Beneficial Returns’ new loan will enable Kawanasi to buy automatic packaging equipment to make nut processing faster and more hygienic.
Beneficial Returns first invested in Kawanasi in 2023 through its Reciprocity Fund, which provides impact-linked loans to small social enterprises supporting Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia and Latin America. A goal of the fund is to ready social enterprises to take on larger investments.
The San Francisco-based firm has originated $2.4 million from the fund through 30 loans.
The second loan to Kawanasi was made from Beneficial Returns’ flagship fund, which makes loans up to $500,000 with stricter credit underwriting standards.
