More support for preserving biodiversity in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa: securing the resources we need to live

• KfW provides a further EUR 88 million to the eco.business fund
• New economic strategies to preserve biodiversity and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forestry, fishery and ecotourism
• Over 160,000 hectares of land protected from deforestation and 4 million cubic metres of water saved to date

On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW has provided a further
EUR 88 million to the eco.business fund for Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The green fund supports economic strategies that are geared towards sustainability. It channels loans through local banks to forestry and agricultural businesses and cooperatives in Latin America and Africa, or pays out the loans directly. EUR 63 million are earmarked for projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, while EUR 25 million will go to projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Finance in Motion is responsible for advisory services for the fund.

Prerequisites for receiving financing are sustainable production methods in agriculture and forestry, fishery and ecotourism – with a particular emphasis on abstaining from deforestation. Funds are used, for example, to promote lower-pesticide floriculture in Colombia or sustainable coffee farming in Kenya using shady trees that store CO2. A further example is pineapple farming in Costa Rica, where chemical-free buffer zones are used to protect natural water sources.
The fund is based on a concept that mobilises both public funds and private capital.

Parliamentary State Secretary Norbert Barthle: “The eco.business Fund has proven effective as a vehicle for generating positive impact in some of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Protecting biodiversity and ensuring the responsible use of our planet’s rich natural resources are key priorities for the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. We are proud to have been supporting this innovative fund from the beginning. It is our conviction that communities, countries, industries, and investors must all join forces if we are to achieve sustainable development.”

“Nature provides the foundation for our existence and is the basis for economic activity. The eco.business fund makes a huge contribution to reducing pressure on nature and cushioning the impact of intensive farming, deforestation and uncontrolled fishing. The effects of these practices are serious: degrading soils, disappearing forests and polluted water. To halt this trend, new economic practices are needed that rely on sustainability instead of resource depletion,” said Dr Günther Bräunig, Chief Executive Officer of KfW Group.

Since the fund was established in 2014, a great deal of progress has already been made in Latin America; over 160,000 hectares of land have been protected from deforestation, more than 4 million cubic metres of water have been saved, 117,000 hectares of soil could be saved from degradation, and 380,000 jobs could be retained in the eco-sector. With agriculture and forestry combined, over 8 million tonnes of CO2 have been saved.

Find out more at:
www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/eco_business_Fund