Trading company Cofco International, Rabo Foundation of Dutch bank Rabobank, and Consórcio Cerrado das Águas (CCA) announced the first “impact finance”, which is aimed at water resilience in Brazilian coffee farming on the 5th of July.

Chinese Cofco, member of CCA, is one of the creators of the pilot credit project. The total value of the financing will be R$ 1.6 million, according to a statement from the consortium.

The financing, tailored by Brazilian consultancy Alimi Impact Ventures and other partners, follows an impact investment structure in which the producer accesses the resource at lower interest rates and, in return, delivers pre-established indicators for water resilience on the property and in the watershed.

The project will last for one crop and will involve, in this first year, ten medium-sized farms participating in the CCA’s Conscious Producer Investment Program and located around Patrocínio, one of the largest coffee producing hubs, in Cerrado Mineiro.

(Source: Forbes)