December 8, 2014

A consortium of conservation groups supporting ‘Initiative 20X20’ is seeking investments from private investment funds to finance the improvement of productivity of existing farmland in Latin America. Over the past decades Latin America has been increasingly responsible for a growing percentage of global food trade – today it accounts for 13%. But the region has lost 36 million hectares (89 million acres) of forests and grasslands in the process. Initiative 20X20 plans to restore 49 million acres (an area larger than Uruguay) of degraded farmland, including 21 million acres in Mexico, and is building a credible business model to attract large investors. A separate project is being planned to cover Brazil. Clement Chénost of the Moringa Fund which is investing $49 million into agro-forestry projects in Latin America and Africa, notes that adding trees to a degraded agricultural operation can improve water retention, improve pastureland six-fold while provide shelter and shade for livestock, be sustainably harvested for additional income, and improve the growing conditions of some crops. The Morninga Fund is looking to invest in shade-grown coffee in Nicaragua, and shade-grown cocoa in Peru.

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