Picking up Speed for Startups: Our Accelerator Roundup

    By David Berón Picture this. You have started a small enterprise to directly connect smallholders in rural Colombia with consumers in the country’s largest cities. Your business model could boost the incomes of farmers, increase the quality of food in urban centers, and make a case for affordable and readily available organic produce. […]

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Getting Fair Trade right; honey and poverty in rural Argentina

  Agustin Nervi   “Before they came, nothing happened here. There was no market, nothing…” Claudio whispered as he skillfully drove his trusty F-100 through sandy roads across the wild dry thorny bush that characterizes the Chaco-Santiagueño plains in South America. As we approached his village it was clear I was in for an interesting […]

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After introducing Guayusa to the world, what’s next for Runa?

  We sat down to talk to Eliot Logan-Hines, Executive Director of the Runa Foundation. The Runa Foundation is a not-for-profit entity that works closely with its commercial partner, Runa LLC, to support communities and ecosystems in the Amazon by commercializing its one-of-a-kind products in a manner that adds value to and conserves the forest, as well […]

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Ten tips from the experts: When is moving from raw material to processed product good for communities and small producers?

  Cutting out the middlemen and increasing local processing are commonly seen as the key to helping small producers capture more value and improve their incomes. Extracting oil instead of selling Brazil nuts, processing frozen fruit pulp instead of fresh fruit, making chocolate bars instead of cocoa beans – the finished product is clearly more […]

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Diez tips de expertos: ¿Vale la pena que comunidades y pequeños productores inviertan en procesar materia prima en productos elaborados?

  Comúnmente se cree que evitar los intermediarios y aumentar el procesamiento local son claves para que pequeños productores puedan mejorar sus ingresos. Extraer el aceite en vez de vender la nuez de donde proviene, procesar fruta en pulpa congelada en vez de vender fruta fresca, elaborar barras de chocolate en vez de granos de […]

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In the Native Land of Cacao, Vanilla and Amazon Cinnamon

by Jacob Olander The Ecuadorian Amazon is remarkably easy to get to. In no other of the eight countries of the Amazon River basin is the rainforest so accessible. In just a 3-hour drive from the Andean capital city of Quito, where we live, you’re down in the rainforest lowlands. It´s one of my favorite […]

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Navigating the World of Certifications and Guarantee Systems

  Created in order to provide a system of trust in which buyers can be confident that their products really are what they claim to be, certifications are powerful incentives for both producers and consumers to commit to best practices. For producers, a certification can open doors to new markets, some of which are willing […]

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Navegando el mundo de las certificaciones y sistemas de garantía

  Creadas con el fin de proveer un sistema de confianza que garantice al consumidor que el producto que está adquiriendo es en realidad lo que dice ser, las certificaciones poseen un gran potencial como incentivadores de cambios de prácticas de productores y de consumidores. Una certificación puede abrir nuevas oportunidades de mercados, en algunos […]

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Alpaca: Sustainable Futures from Past Cultures

Tourists returning from Andean South America will usually sport some sort of “alpaca item”: gloves, sweaters, hats, socks, all with pre-columbian-style designs, inevitably including the form of an alpaca. However, buyers rarely glimpse the truth behind this  iconic industry—that the alpaca as well the artisans who work with a centuries-old tradition are in peril. But, like in centuries past, alpacas fit perfectly into the Andean environment and the needs of our modern lifestyles. Thanks to the efforts of two Ecuadorian initiatives, it is reappearing, […]

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