Indigenous and Local Voices Lead NESsT’s Call to Strengthen Global Funding to the Amazon Bioeconomy

Extensive research reveals critical insights to drive better-targeted investments for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Today, NESsT, impact investor and venture philanthropist, releases an impactful study and set of recommendations to unlock the potential of the global funding ecosystem to invest in a sustainable Amazon bioeconomy. Informed by in-person interviews with Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), the research underscores the urgent need for inclusive, catalytic investment in the bioeconomy that aligns with local investment needs.

In the past decade, the bioeconomy has emerged as a thriving economic sector, drawing in a wide range of investors with climate commitments. Amid a global surge in environmental funding, local bioeconomy enterprises have emphasized their need for investments that are more efficient and better targeted to challenges faced at the grassroots level.

Drawing on more than 40 in-person interviews with local smallholder farmers, community members, and leadership teams, NESsT’s report presents a comprehensive understanding of the financing needs and growth challenges of bioeconomy enterprises and their impact on local communities. The ten bioeconomy enterprises selected for the study are part of the NESsT Amazonia acceleration portfolio and prioritize conserving local biodiversity and improving the lives of IPLCs in the Amazon. All have directly or indirectly received funding from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), International Development Agencies (IDAs), and/or private sector investors.

In conversations with NESsT, enterprises cited difficulties meeting intricate requisites and rigorous credit assessments to obtain funding, in addition to obstacles in promoting and commercializing their products or solutions to potential investors. Local individuals interviewed also highlighted the impact of unsustainable and underdeveloped infrastructure on their communities and businesses, and a need for favorable market and procurement opportunities for emerging sustainable value chains.

“Our vision for the bioeconomy prioritizes the voices of local, traditional communities, including Indigenous groups, riverbank communities, and Quilombolas, recognizing the effectiveness of their solutions and engaging them in key decision-making processes,” stated Kirsten Dueck, CEO of NESsT. “Drawing on insights from interviews with individuals from these communities, the report examines opportunities for public donors and investors to engage with and learn from IPLCs to foster a resilient bioeconomy that strengthens local livelihoods and conserves the biodiverse environment.”

The publication identifies nine opportunities for the funding community – both public funders such as DFIs and IDAs as well as private investors – to improve funding accessibility for local initiatives while making their investments more effective and impactful. The actionable recommendations focus on streamlining funding processes, supporting sustainable procurement policies, and fostering community-based infrastructure development. Many of the strategies in the report are already being implemented by the NESsT team via its Amazonia acceleration portfolio.

An example of this is NESsT’s work to assist enterprises in developing emerging sustainable value chains. ASSOAB, like many local enterprises in the Amazon, serves as the primary source of income for its communities. The local bioeconomy enterprise generates income for over 350 Amazon nut collectors in Indigenous territories and reserves in the Brazilian Amazon, supporting them to use sustainable harvesting methods that align with nature. ASSOAB joined the NESsT Amazonia portfolio in 2021 and has since accessed business assistance to strengthen its position as a major nut producer in Brazil and improve the impact monitoring and tracking processes of its conservation efforts. The social enterprise currently safeguards 800,000 hectares of native forests in Beruri, Brazil, a municipality with high historical rates of deforestation.

The report also incorporates insights from conversations with the Bioeconomy Advisory Committee, formed of representatives from NESsT, DFIs, IDAs, and international organizations, and interviews with key development funding stakeholders conducted in collaboration with Global Counsel. Significantly, the research emphasizes the potential of blended finance strategies to leverage public and private funds, catalyzing broader investment in the region.

"While public funders such as DFIs and IDAs represent just one facet of the global financing landscape for the Amazon basin, the impact of aligning their frameworks to local needs and realities is far-reaching," added Dueck. “Given the urgency of addressing climate change, there is a historic opportunity for DFIs, IDAs, and private investors to contribute to making systemic changes on how public and private investment is mobilized at ground level for maximum impact. Working in partnership with IPLCs, NESsT can ensure the level of investment needed to advance the SDGs and global bioeconomy goals.”

The series of opportunities published by NESsT aims to create an enabling financial environment that fosters IPLC-led entrepreneurship and contributes to a thriving, sustainable, and inclusive Amazon bioeconomy with local and Indigenous communities at its center.

For full access to the study and in-depth recommendations, visit: https://www.nesst.org/amazon-bioeconomy-recommendations

About NESsT

NESsT has a 27-year track record of investing in enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet. NESsT’s investment framework is rooted in locally based enterprises: businesses that operate at the grassroots level and are uniquely equipped to uplift low-income, excluded, and environmentally-vulnerable communities. To support these enterprises, NESsT also builds local teams where it invests, hiring portfolio managers who have a deep understanding of the realities of their portfolio.

NESsT has invested in the Amazon basin since 2015. To date, it has sustained more than 12,000 jobs in the Pan-Amazonian region (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru). Enterprises in the NESsT portfolio range from Indigenous-led cooperatives that support fishers along the Amazon River to early-stage tech businesses delivering and scaling climate solutions in the rainforest. NESsT provides flexible financing as well as ongoing business assistance to its portfolio enterprises, connecting these local businesses to investors and sustainable markets globally.

Since its founding in 1997, NESsT has invested over $36M and trained and supported over 35,000 entrepreneurs across 50 countries. It has accelerated and financed 248 enterprises, in total sustaining more than 112,000 formal jobs and improving the lives of 1.7 million people from the most marginalized communities around the world, including smallholder farmers, Black people, Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQIA+ community, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities, women, and youth.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240618055708/en/