COTE D IVOIRE – Socak Katana, a cocoa cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire has received an undisclosed amount of investment from the Agri-Business Capital Fund (ABC Fund), managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, in partnership with Injaro.

Being the first investment by ABC, it will help the cocoa farmers secure market access and revenue.

Located in the North Western Region of Côte d’Ivoire, Socak Katana has over 2,700 members and procures raw cocoa from its members before processing, transporting, storing and selling the cocoa beans to local and international buyers.

In addition to that it, provides other services including technical assistance and training of its members.

Currently, the cooperative has a total production capacity of 6,000 metric tons with a total of about 8,400 hectares under cultivation by the cocoa farmers. It is Fairtrade certified and 54% of the cooperative’s cocoa farmers are UTZ certified.

The investment will help secure revenue for smallholder farmers, by providing the cooperative with funds needed to buy their production. It will also enable the members to earn a better price by benefitting from premiums under Fairtrade and UTZ certifications.

This investment is a first step towards the ABC Fund’s goal to support rural employment and improve farmers’ livelihood in developing countries.

Jerry Parkes, CEO of Injaro Investments Ltd stated that, “We are excited about this first investment of the ABC Fund that will increase farmers’ earnings and support rural communities.”

“Improving earnings for rural farmers has an important multiplier effect as each farmer typically supports several household members.”

“We look forward to making more investments that demonstrate the power of impact capital to improve lives in rural agricultural communities”.

The ABC Fund is a blended-finance impact fund which provides catalytic financing to underserved yet profitable segments of agribusiness value chains in developing countries through deploying loans and equity investments in farmer organizations, rural SMEs and financial institutions.

The Fund was initiated by the International Fund for Agricultural Development in partnership and with funding from the European Union, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the Luxembourg Government and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.