Community Markets for Conservation (Comaco) Agroprocessing and carbon markets linked to small-scale farmers

We’ve organized 230,000 small-scale farmers into 78 farmer cooperatives to facilitate more efficient uptake of sustainable, eco-agricultural practices for increased yields among 4 legumes that we turn into value-added products under the brand It’s Wild!. Through these efforts we have monitored carbon sequestered in farm soils and stored in trees from reduced deforestation and return the carbon market value back to the communities we have partnered with. The It’s Wild! brand now totals 19 products and include forest products like honey and wild mushrooms. We are now exporting in the region and to Europe and the USA. From its inception, our company has tripled household income, has significantly increased food security, reduced wildlife poaching and reduced rates of deforestation. We are now on the brink of breaking even but challenged by the high cost of financing our crop buying with debt financing rates that average around 8-10%.