Economic Empowerment

Journey with Celina Lima, a fellow with Fair Trade Campaigns, to a coffee cooperative in Guatemala to lean about the true impact and benefits that Fair Trade has brought to their communities and individual lives.

Fair Trade USA is the leading fair trade certifying body in North America, operating globally alongside the European-based Fairtrade International. Colleen Anunu, Fair Trade USA’s Senior Manager of Supply Chain, reflects on some of fair trade’s achievements and challenges, with a focus on the coffee sector. She also explains how Fair Trade USA and Oikocredit are teaming up to reduce price risks for coffee farmers.

Today, Cox Enterprises released the results of the national Cox Conserves Sustainability Survey, which identified that small and medium-sized business (SMBs) owners are cautiously optimistic about sustainability in the United States. The survey, commissioned by Cox Enterprises, is a national study that examines SMB owners’ insights on sustainability.

During annual field visits to our microfinance partners, we often see them searching for better ways to help their clients. Unexpected household shocks can seriously jeopardize the livelihoods of the poorest entrepreneurs and their families. The microfinance sector may be in its infancy in successfully providing access to financial products to buffer the effects of devastating health emergencies, floods, droughts, fires and other disasters, but we have seen innovative approaches from partners all over the world designed to mitigate these unexpected events.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), NeighborWorks® America and its network member Affordable Housing Resources today announced the NeighborhoodLIFT® program is coming to the Nashville area with a $4.2 million commitment by Wells Fargo to boost homeownership. This will be Wells Fargo’s 54th LIFT program event in the U.S.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. today unveiled a $10 million, three-year investment to help drive inclusive economic growth in underserved Washington, D.C. neighborhoods, most notably in Wards 7 and 8. This long-term commitment is the firm’s third investment in a major U.S. city. It combines the firm’s business expertise and collaboration with local business and community leaders to invest in four key drivers of inclusive growth: jobs and skills, minority-owned small business expansion, neighborhood revitalization and financial health.

Consumers Energy has helped 10,000 small businesses across Michigan lower their costs through an eight-year-old program that rewards them financially for taking steps to use less energy.

Cargill has made its first ever sustainable premium payment by electronic transfer to cocoa farmers in Ghana. Just over 10,000 farmers are benefiting from the 2 million GHS mobile payments made by Cargill in partnership with its customers through the Cargill Cocoa Promise, Cargill’s commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers and communities that will secure a thriving cocoa sector for generations to come.

In addition to addressing the demands of urbanization growth, cities must also prepare for climate-related challenges via developing a resiliency strategy.