Isidro makes impact-first investments in livelihoods and the land.

Value Proposition

Isidro offers debt finance and technical assistance to help small agricultural enterprises grow their business and ensure their impact benefits farmers, rural communities, and the environment.

About

Isidro Investments LLC is a loan fund owned and managed by Catholic Relief Services. CRS is a leading global development and humanitarian agency with active programming reaching 250 million people in over 100 countries.

Offer

Isidro meets a unique need in the financing ecosystem, making short and medium-term loans below $500,000 to enterprises that are underserved by existing local or international lenders due to their size, investment need, financial profile and/or organizational capacity.

Presence

Isidro leverages CRS’ robust local presence and network of partners in Central America, and East and Southern Africa, to generate proprietary deal flow and provide pre and post investment technical assistance.

Fund Impact Targets through 2025

12.5K

farmers with strengthened livelihoods

15K

hectares implementing regenerative agriculture practices

investments in underserved enterprises

50% are medium-term investments in fixed assets
35% are first-time borrowers

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Our Clients

Investing in agricultural enterprises is essential to improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers and to protect and regenerate the land.

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Insights

Agri-Finance Ecosystem

Isidro targets businesses with a financing gap; they are often smaller, engaged in diverse value chains, and have medium- to long-term financing needs.

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Meet a Client: Cacao Verapaz S.A.

Meet Cacao Verapaz, a social enterprise which sources, processes, and trades certified organic, fine flavor cocoa. Cacao Verapaz drives value to its farmer suppliers and implements regenerative agriculture practices.

Cacao Verapaz S.A.
Country:	Guatemala
Value Chain:	Cocoa
Investment Type:	Working Capital and Term Loan
Investment Amount:	$220,000
Premium Market Access:	800-1,000 farmers (+5-20%)
Regenerative Practices:	2100 acres

A social enterprise which sources, processes, and trades certified organic, fine flavor cocoa.
They source from indigenous famers in the Maya Q'eqchi' region, connecting new farmers to bean-to-bar markets.
The company finished building a cocoa collection and fermentation center in 2022 (Isidro financed).
WIth Isidro's technical support, Cacao Verapaz is training its famer supppliers in regenerative practices to boost yields and strengthen resilience to climate change.

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The Unique Challenges of investing in Agriculture

What people may not fully appreciate is that beyond producing food, the agricultural sector in most countries also plays a central role in rural development, social stability, and environmental conservation. Low investment in this sector is not in the interest of the common good. So, let’s explore in greater detail what makes investing in agriculture unique but also risky.

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