Thanks to all the great work from our friends at North Coast Credit Union (NCCU) and Viva Farms, and with the generous support of our social impact investors, we have officially launched our Farmer Reserve Fund to help beginning farmers grow their businesses. This is the first piece of our food and farm microfinance effort as we work to make it easier for local agriculture producers to grow their businesses. The first Farmer Reserve Fund loan was made through North Coast last Friday to a strawberry farmer named Santiago Lozano. A second loan closed on Monday to Nelida Martinez, a vegetable producer.
Slow Money NW developed the loan loss reserve fund as a way to fill a gap in financial services available to small-scale farmers and to meet the interest of regional investors seeking to support sustainable agriculture most effectively. Slow Money NW, a project of the non-profit Grow Food, did not want to administer the loans so it looked to partner with a regional lending institution. “We wanted to build on existing infrastructure in the community, and deliver services efficiently by building relationships, rather than reinventing the wheel — the reserve fund structure through North Coast is a perfect match.” said Japhet Koteen, Slow Money NW’s Project Manager.
The Farmer Reserve Fund is a win for the credit union which puts its deposits to work in their community, and a win for the investors that donated the reserve funds since each dollar they put into the fund means up to five dollars available to lend out to beginning farmers. The farmers also see immediate benefits. “It is very difficult for new growers to access credit, “said Lozano. “ I will reserve some of my line of credit to cover any emergencies that come up. The rest I will use to pay my harvest crew before I get paid for sales.” Martinez says the loan is allowing her to grow her young business. “Thanks to this program, it’s much easier for new farmers like myself to get a loan and keep moving forward. We’re very thankful for the extra help in realizing our dreams.”
Learn more about the Farmer Reserve Fund here.