waykana

ECUADOR
Waykana is a social enterprise that exports guayusa, a caffeine-rich leaf native to the Amazon. Waykana sources from more than 200 Kichwa farming families in the rainforest and creates a profitable alternative to slash-and-burn agricultural methods.  Guayusa can be grown with other food, fruit, timber and medicinal plants to create biodiverse and ecologically healthy agricultural plots that allow local farmers to thrive and generate a sustainable livelihood for the community.  The Reciprocity Fund provided a $30,000 loan to finance a new cutting machine as it expands its business.

FECCEG

GUATEMALA
Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FCCEG) is a thirteen year-old non-profit that works with 1,500 Mayan producers of organic coffee, sugarcane, and cinnamon in Western Guatemala.  Governed as a cooperative, FCCEG provides loans, technical assistance and access to the US market for these farmers, 30% of whom are women.  In 2019, the organization generated over $12 M in revenue. The Reciprocity Fund's $75,000 loan helped FCCEG expand their warehouse and administrative offices.

Bats’il Maya

MEXICO
Bats’il Maya is part of a coffee cooperative that supports over 360 Tzeltal farming families in the central highlands of Chiapas.  The cooperative operates a green coffee milling operation, a roasting facility, and three coffee shops. With their vertically integrated model, indigenous producers benefit economically from the value-add of milled, roasted coffee, and brewed coffee. The Reciprocity Fund provided a total of $100,000 working capital line to manage the timing gap between paying farmers and receiving payment from export customers.

WIÑAK

ECUADOR
Wiñak is a non-profit agricultural association, the first to be fully Kichwa-owned and operated. Based in the Napo Region of Ecuador, Wiñak  sells plantains, cacao, guayusa, and cassava sustainably grown by over 250 Kichwa farmers from around 60 separate communities. Their work aims to preserve Amazonian cultural and conservation practices, while establishing food security and economic viability for the Kichwa people.  ​The Reciprocity Fund provided a $54,000 loan to Wiñak  to support operations and acquisition of awnings for cacao drying.

RONAP

PERU
Recolectores Organicos de la Nuez Amazonica Del Peru (RONAP) is a small cooperative of wild Brazil nut collectors from the Madre de Dios region of Peru, an area that has suffered tremendous environmental degradation due to mining. The Reciprocity Fund extended a $75,000 loan to RONAP for its construction of a warehouse to support the expansion of its export business. 

XAXENI

MEXICO
Grupo Xaxeni preserves Mexican biodiversity through the development of a network of mostly indigenous smallholder farmers who grow native Mexican plants. Grupo Xaxeni seeks to promote ecological and economic value of these plants by creating a market for their use in landscaping, biotechnology, and as active ingredient for consumer goods. The Reciprocity Fund extended a
$ 75,000 term loan from to purchase native plant seeds and to expand their research, production, and marketing.

FOREST WISE

INDONESIA
Forest Wise sources, processes, and sells natural, sustainably harvested rainforest products.  The social enterprise provides livelihoods to hundreds of local Dayak community members while creating an economic incentive to preserve the biodiversity of their native lands – the tropical lowland forests of Borneo. The Reciprocity Fund extended a $50,000 loan to Forest Wise  to manage working capital requirements and increase production capabilities.

Coopbam

PERU
COOPBAM is a coffee-growing cooperative operating in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest of Peru.  The cooperative promotes socio-economic development in forest communities while fighting against deforestation. The business provides coffee growers with agricultural training, financial skills, and access to specialty-grade coffee markets. In exchange, the farmers commit to zero net deforestation. COOPBAM is supported by Conservation International, in partnership with local communities and the Peruvian government. 

SIMBIOSIS

PERU
Simbiosis is a Peruvian social enterprise that provides livelihoods and empowers poor Andean women. The company sells Boletus luteus, a native Andean mushroom, for the export market. The business employs 320 mushroom producers, most of whom are women, who harvest the wild mushrooms and dry them.  During mushroom season, which lasts 5-7 months, Simbiosis workers earn an average of USD $500 of supplemental income.

CENCOIC

COLOMBIA
CENCOIC is a coffee-growing cooperative in Cauca, Colombia, home to the Nasa tribe, the third largest indigenous group in Colombia. More than 2,500 farming families sell their coffee through CENOIC which handles all processing and international sales. CENCOIC also operates a buying cooperative which gives its members access to more affordable medicine and health supplies. CENCOIC consists of 19 associations spread across southwestern Colombia.

CORTEPAZ

COLOMBIA
Cortepaz is a cocoa cooperative located on Colombia's Pacific coast. The cooperative's members are of Afro-Colombian descent, and represent some of the most marginalized people in the country.  Cortepaz groups individual farmers into units to enhance agricultural productivity, and currently has 200 groups cultivating cocoa and other crops. By offering technical training, social support, and access to national and international markets, Cortepaz improves the lives of its beneficiaries. Cortepaz also aims to preserve its members' heritage and protect the land's biodiversity.