A Latin American green farming fund turns a Colombian company into a leader in organic lime production and a powerful agent for social change in rural Medellin
A few years ago, Jairo Villa and his family were living in a small, old house that didn’t even have a roof. “Our home was only about 35 square meters and when it rained, it dripped everywhere,” says Villa, 57, who works for a lime company outside Medellin, Colombia. “My biggest dream was to build a new home.”
Colombia has ideal weather for farming, but the degradation of fertile land following the long years of Colombia’s armed internal conflicts has hurt many farms and reduced employment opportunities for rural communities surrounding big cities, such as Medellin. The organic lime company Equilibria, where Villa works, is trying to regenerate Colombia’s landscape and social fabric at the same time.
“We use organic agriculture to regenerate former cattle farming land and create hundreds of qualified, stable jobs in our orchards, our processing plant and our offices,” says Juan Pablo Duque, the founder of Equilibria.
For Villa, the result is, he says, that “I have a better job and am sitting in front of a beautiful house with my wife and two children.”
A few years ago, Jairo Villa and his family were living in a small, old house that didn’t even have a roof. Thanks to Equlibria and EcoEnterprises Fund, Jairo enjoys evenings with his family on the porch of a new home.
Biodiversity and forestry venture capital in Latin America
Equilibria promotes a fairer, greener, and sophisticated approach to agriculture. The European Investment Bank is helping the company and many others like it by investing in the EcoEnterprises Fund, a venture capital firm led by women that works on forestry and biodiversity projects across Latin America. The fund invests in companies that vow to promote sustainable farming, improve lives and empower women.
In 2019, Equilibria received a long-term loan from EcoEnterprises to help convert up to 2 000 hectares of underutilized, degraded cattle pastures into flourishing organic lime orchards. It hopes to plant up to 700 000 lime trees over the next two to three years.
The company is breaking with the traditional concept of land ownership. Instead of purchasing land, Equilibria leases underutilized farms for a minimum of 20 years. “We don’t spend money to own the land, but to make it productive again, to plant thousands of trees, to bring a great product to international clients and to generate jobs where there currently are none,” Duque says. “Our asset is our agricultural know-how and our stellar team and execution in the field.”
Equilibria hopes to plant up to 700 000 lime trees over the next two to three years.
Equilibria relies on innovative and greener technology. It uses state-of-the-art instruments to increase production, minimize water use and apply environmentally friendly pest control.
“Our farms are full of life,” says Angie Álvarez, head of certifications at Equilibria. “You can see insects, reptiles, and birds everywhere, in the middle of the orchards. We conserve all existing forests and biological corridors in the area and reforest critical spots like riverbanks with native tree species to protect these vulnerable resources, add biodiversity, and prevent soil erosion.”
Sustainable livelihoods through Latin American green farming fund
It isn’t easy to find financing to harvest gigantic volumes of limes. “Local banks were hesitant to provide loans,” Duque says. “Finding the right type of patient, flexible financing for the first orchards has been key.”
EcoEnterprises supports many companies in Latin America and other parts of the world. The European Investment Bank was fundamental to the launch of the EcoEnterprises Fund in 2000 and has been a key partner ever since, making two big investments worth about €21 million in the past decade. The EIB last signed with the fund in May 2018, but EcoEnterprises is still supporting companies across the world today with this investment.
“The world needs climate and infrastructure funds, as they are often run by local people who understand the local cultural and social framework,” says Sissi Frank-Pérez, a private equity funds investment officer at the EIB who worked on the EcoEnterprises deal. “By selecting the right investment funds, we can do more work in areas where it’s hard to find finance, such as climate change, social welfare and gender equality.”
The Equilibria investment shows that the conservation of nature can be commercially attractive and a win-win for communities, companies, and investors.
“Investment funds are an excellent source of money to mobilise more capabilities from the private sector in a financially sustainable way, while tackling the great challenges of our time, biodiversity loss and climate change,” Frank-Pérez adds.
EcoEnterprises supports many companies in Latin America and other parts of the world. The Equilibria investment shows that the conservation of nature can be commercially attractive and a win-win for communities, companies, and investors.
How Equilibria helped its region in 2021
- 215 jobs created
- All employees get access to banking
- More than half of senior management are women
- 925 hectares of land managed sustainable
- 16 hectares of land reforested with native trees
- 130 000 lime trees planted in orchards
- Fruit is 100% certified organic
Gender equality in Latin America
When deciding whether to support a business, EcoEnterprises checks whether women are in leadership roles, and it encourages companies to hire women at all levels of management.
“Women have always been sort of the silent majority, but they are the social glue in communities in Latin America,” says Julia Santander, a fund manager working in Colombia for EcoEnterprises. “Our fund wants companies to acknowledge the importance of work by women, support gender-balanced land ownership and revenue control, and make sure women are rewarded for their work.”
Equilibria fits that bill.
More than half of Equilibria’s senior management is female. Over 50% of its employees never finished primary school, over 20% had to move homes because of the armed conflict, and almost none had a bank account before working with the company, says Manuela Ramirez, head of human resources. “Today, all Equilibria employees have full access to banks and social security and receive training to continue to grow within the company,” she says.
Equilibria has still more ideas for helping people grow. “We are thinking of creating a social housing program and opening our own childcare center to encourage female employment,” Ramirez says. “We ask all employees for their dreams and every year we select one that we fulfill together as a team.”
