From farm data that's easier to trace, to more efficient 'smart contracts', to using tokens to raise funds from a range of investors – blockchain can help overcome some of the barriers to growth in impact investing.
Ethical businesses are being left to struggle and die, while we pour billions into ESG initiatives that often ignore the voices of producers and workers, says the Transform Trade CEO. For Fairtrade's radical vision to flourish, tougher regulation is vital.
Smallholder farming can be a thankless way to make a living. To boost incomes, social enterprise Nuup connects farmers with a whole range of players while making regenerative techniques more accessible. And it wants others to steal its best ideas.
The very survival of some communities depends on their ability to adapt to the effects of climate change. Meanwhile, the cost of financing adaptation is soaring, while private sources fund just a tiny portion of this. Enter impact investing.
How do you build climate resilience of Vietnam's rice farmers? How do you boost the life chances of toddlers in Kenya? It’s complicated – but a solid impact management system is a good start, as the experience of two social enterprises shows.
PLUS: Fair4All Finance invests £1.8m to scale affordable lending; carbon-farming startup Agreena raises €20m Series A; French insurer MGEN launches €80m impact fund; and more
Agribusinesses in Africa will be receiving support from a multi-investor backed fund led by the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund. These agribusinesses are helping farmers adapt to the climate crisis.
PLUS: Pioneering revenue-based fund launches in Scotland; Back Market raises $335m in “bullish” circular economy market; AU$8m boost for Queensland social enterprises; Dutch trio backs “truly disruptive” AI firm Envision – and more.
C SUMMIT: Rabo Foundation managing director Pim Mol says corporate social investors can help embed impact into a parent firm’s strategy – the challenge is to connect the dots to create true scale.
