ImpactAlpha, April 1 — The U.S. International Development Corporation, formerly known as OPIC, is investing $35 million in the Cambridge, Mass.-based social lender to finance smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. At least half of Root Capital’s lending go to women-led agribusinesses.
The financing will “help thousands of smallholder farmers across the globe, many of whom are women, to improve their livelihoods, tackle food insecurity in their communities and advance climate resilient agricultural practices,” says DFC’s Algene Sajery.
Impact incentives
Separately, in Latin America, Root Capital is finding early success with ‘social impact incentives’ as a way to serve lower-income customers and early-stage enterprises otherwise unable to access finance (see, “A little incentive goes a long way to change lending for small farmers in Latin America”).