US to deepen investment in Central America

By Bufete Mejía & Asociados

United States Vice President Kamala Harris announced seven new commitments as part of the Call to Action she launched on May 27 for businesses and social enterprises to make new, significant commitments to sustainably address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity. Commitments announced today include those from: CARE International, Cargill, Grupo Mariposa, Parkdale Mills, PepsiCo, JDE Peet’s, and PriceSmart.

In addition, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Nespresso—who announced initial commitments in May—announced further action in the region. As a result, businesses and social enterprises have invested more than $1.2 billion in response to the Vice President’s launch of the Call to Action.

JDE Peet’s, the world’s largest pure-play coffee and tea company, plans to increase its financial support for smallholder farmers in the region by 40%. This support will be provided through the implementation of a new series of sustainability programs throughout the Central American coffee belt, in partnership with the Coffee Alliance. The new support programs will include technical expertise, intended to allow for increased productivity, adaptation to the effects of climate change, diversification of incomes, and improved access to markets and credit. As a result of this increase, JDE Peet’s will allocate a total of $2.7 million over the next four years, to expand the reach of its Common Grounds Program in the region. The Coffee Alliance is a public-private partnership among USAID, JDE Peet’s, CoHonducafe (Honduras’ largest coffee exporter), the CoHonducafe Foundation, and Grupo Cadelga (Honduras’ largest agricultural input supplier). The increased contribution from JDE Peet’s will enable the Coffee Alliance to reach 10,000 additional smallholder coffee farming households, doubling its active footprint in the region.

Facilitated through a public-private partnership between the State Department and the non-profit Partnership for Central America, and in close coordination with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Call to Action has also generated new collaboration across participating companies, further boosting the initiative’s impact.

The Call to Action’s six focus areas are intended to support long-term development of the region, including: promoting a reform agenda; digital and financial inclusion; food security and climate-smart agriculture; climate adaptation and clean energy; education and workforce development; and public health access. It serves as one component of our comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of migration, which will involve significant commitments of U.S. government resources to support the long-term development of the region—including efforts to foster economic opportunity, strengthen democratic governance, combat corruption, and improve security. This approach will leverage commitments and resources from the governments in the region, as well as partnerships with multilateral development banks and international financial institutions.