Starbucks is backing a new fund to provide long-term loans to farmers.
Starbucks is backing a new fund to provide long-term loans to farmers.
The bulk of microfinance now available to subsistence farmers is directed at short-term or pre-harvest loans. This can help them buy fertilisers and other inputs, but does not help with new equipment or infrastructure.
Ben Packard, head of responsibility at Starbucks, said that while such investments helped improve farmers’ livelihoods, private sector investment was a business decision rather than altruism. “This is not philanthropic,” he added.
Read more at The Financial Times.
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