IDB Lab, the innovation arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), along with the IDB and the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV), launched LAC E-Coop, a program to help rural organizations access clean energy for their productive activities through financial services and training.
The project is implemented by the DGRV and is a partnership with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and the Clean Tech Fund. It pursues innovative models that both mitigate climate change and decarbonize production chains in rural areas, promoting access to clean energy sources.
Its aim is for local producers to adopt green technologies for generating electric power, and it will also pilot and implement community energy projects. The project will work with savings and loan cooperatives in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Peru to develop green credit lines tailored to productive activities and rural beneficiaries.
Approximately 73.5 million people live in rural areas in these countries, where poverty and economic vulnerability is high. Their primary sources of income are agricultural and food supply chain activities, which can be hampered by limited access to electricity and quality energy.
LAC E-Coop will directly impact small, low-income producers, which will be able to install clean energy technologies for the machinery used to process food, irrigate crops, refrigerate products or pump water, among other productive activities. The project will benefit approximately 2,300 low-income producers who are affiliated with 46 rural producer organizations. It will indirectly benefit an additional 8,800 people. It will focus on organizations in the solidarity economy and seek to boost the participation of women, creating opportunities for them to earn income.
The project will also develop other pilot projects in remote areas to address the energy needs of those without access to the power grid.
The vision for LAC E-Coop is that it can be scaled up by passing on the methods and tools that have already been developed, the experience that savings and loan cooperatives gain while implementing it, and other lessons.
“When small producer associations make an energy transition, it sends a strong message to markets. Decarbonization is everyone’s responsibility, and IDB Lab is firmly committed to backing innovative models like this program that bring rural organizations and producers on board to mitigate climate change,” said César Buenadicha head of IDB Lab’s Discovery Unit.
“The GEAPP is excited to work with IDB Lab and the DGRV and show our commitment to improving people’s lives by giving them access to clean, reliable and inexpensive energy. We understand the key role that community organizations play in designing energy projects and making them sustainable. This is a unique opportunity to work hand-in-hand with these organizations and ensure that the solutions meet the specific needs of rural communities and farmers so they have the biggest impact possible,” said Isabel Beltrán, managing director for Latin America and the Caribbean at GEAPP.
For more information, contact larias@mail.dgrv.coop
About the IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank, a member of the IDB Group, is devoted to improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Established in 1959, the IDB partners with the public sector in the region to design and provide innovative, high-impact solutions for sustainable and inclusive development. Through financing, technical experience, and knowledge, it drives growth and well-being in 26 countries. Visit our website at https://www.iadb.org/en.
About IDB Lab
IDB Lab is the innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group. We discover new ways to drive social inclusion, environmental action, and productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean. IDB Lab leverages financing, knowledge, and connections to support early-stage entrepreneurship, foster the development of new technologies, activate innovative markets, and catalyze existing sectors. www.bidlab.org/en
About the DGRV
Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband e.V. - DGRV, headquartered in Berlin and Bonn, is the national apex organization of the cooperative sector in Germany. Since more than 40 years, DGRV is engaged in international development cooperation in more than 30 partner countries, including 12 countries in Latin America. It provides training, consulting services, and assistance in the development of cooperative systems and structures with the objective of sustainable development of the sector. https://www.dgrv.coop/ and https://apoyamos.coop/
About the GEAPP
The GEAPP is an alliance of philanthropy, governments, technology, policy, and financing partners. Our common mission is to enable emerging and developed economies to shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that accelerates universal energy access and inclusive economic growth while supporting the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. As an Alliance, we aim to reduce 4 gigatons of future carbon emissions, expand clean energy access to one billion people, and enable 150 million new jobs. GEAPP works to build the enabling environment, capacity, and market conditions for private sector solutions, catalyze new business models through innovation and entrepreneurship, and deploy high-risk capital to encourage private sector solutions and assist just transition solutions. https://energyalliance.org/
Maria De Gador Manzano Guillen
Communications Lead Specialist
