Highlights: On 02 March 2021, the Food Securities Fund successfully started operations. Its first investment, disbursed on 08 March 2021, supports coffee production in East Africa, reaching almost 4’000 smallholder farmers operating in agroforestry systems, utilizing organic and regenerative practices. The Food Securities Fund provides working capital loans to sustainable agriculture companies in emerging and developing…

Clarmondial has been invited to advise the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) on how to mobilize additional financial resources for nutrition. This new report focuses primarily on the mobilization of additional finance from the private sector. It explains what “nutrition finance” is, where and by whom financing is needed for nutrition, how additional financing can be…

Certifications are an important tool to incentivize sustainable natural resource management, including fisheries. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is the leading wild-capture fisheries certification and ecolabeling program. Globally, about 16% of volume of wild-caught seafood is certified to the MSC standard and over 40’000 seafood products carry the MSC logo. The MSC provides more than…

Aussi disponible en français ici. The Fonds Interprofessionnel pour la Recherche et le Conseil Agricoles (Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Advisory Services), represented by Executive Director Atsin Yao Léon, and Clarmondial AG, represented by West Africa Lead Soumaila Diakite, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday, 30 September 2020. The two institutions are…

Also available in English here. Le Fonds Interprofessionnel pour la Recherche et le Conseil Agricoles, représenté par son Directeur Exécutif Atsin Yao Léon, et Clarmondial AG, représentée par son Responsable Afrique de l’Ouest Soumaila Diakite, ont signé un Mémorandum d’Entente le mercredi 30 septembre 2020. Les deux institutions ont l’intention de collaborer pour améliorer le…

by Tanja Havemann (Clarmondial), Dr. Christine Negra (Versant Vision), Jos Lemmens (APG)   When it comes to conversations about sustainable finance in 2020, there is no escaping the EU Taxonomy. An idea first pitched by the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance – appointed by the European Commission in 2016 to advise on…

by Tanja Havemann, Dr. Christine Negra, Fred Werneck   Agriculture is a critical sector for food security and environmental integrity as well as an engine of socio-economic development in emerging economies. To achieve agriculture-related SDGs, investments are needed in innovative technologies, greenfield production, infrastructure, working capital, and trade finance. Given the tremendous impact of the…

By Tanja Havemann, Christine Negra, David LeZaks, and Jos Lemmens   In April 2019, the report “Environmental Impact Reporting in Agriculture (EIRA): Creating a link between agricultural investments and environmental impact” put forward a collaborative roadmap toward dynamic, globally-relevant benchmarking of environmental impacts in agriculture. Recognizing that the growing number of sustainable agricultural investment initiatives…

The Food Securities Fund was one of the three Non-Grant Instruments (NGI) approved by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council in December 2019. The global emerging markets fund, which starts with a focus on Sub Saharan Africa, was deemed to be well-aligned with GEF focal areas, including on land degradation, biodiversity, and climate change mitigation….

Supported by the MAVA Foundation, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Clarmondial have initiated the Lead Project to address sustainability challenges in West African fisheries. In partnership with government and industry bodies, 8 fisheries in Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia and Cape Verde have been identified for an initial sustainability assessment under the MSC’s framework, and…