HUSK Ventures produces biochar and other products from rice husks to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and regenerate soils, increase yields, and capture carbon in the soil. HUSK Ventures partners with rice mills that have excess low-value husk and operates pyrolysis units that transform the organic material into biochar-based agri-inputs, which are then sold as a soil amendement to smallholder farmers. The company seeks new investment to expand and scale up operations.

Moo Moo Farms is Cambodia’s first dairy farm, a vertically integrated business involving a Total Mixed Ration dairy (a way of feeding cattle), milk processing, and wholesale milk supply. The company seeks new investment to expand operations and build new, low-emissions dairy facilities that can accommodate more cows and meet growing market demand.

We support this national member association of banks in Cambodia, as well as member banks directly, in its implementation of national sustainable finance principles, leveraging bank products to promote social, environmental and governance change, and adopting carbon footprint measurement tools and policies. We are currently providing bespoke advisory services to member banks J Trust Royal Bank, Vattanac Bank, Prince Bank, Hong Leong Bank, and Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia.

Teak Farms specializes in intensively managed teak plantations on degraded lands using an accelerated growth methodology involving drip irrigation and fertilization, which shortens the rotation length to six years from the traditional 20 years. We are supporting the company in achieving Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and attracting new investment to scale up operations in order to export teak products to global markets.

OTAGO is Cambodia’s first modern manufacturer of high-quality sustainable char briquettes, primarily made from recycled biomass waste including coconut shell and wood charcoal residues (from industrial boilers) that burn longer than traditional wood charcoal, with no sparks, smell or smoke. This sustainable charcoal replaces local charcoal produced from logging of natural forests. The company has developed its own closed-loop technology and plans to franchise in the region. The company seeks new investment to expand and scale up operations.

Grandis Timber Ltd is Cambodia’s first certified (Forest Stewardship Council) commercial reforestation company that holds an Economic Land Concession in Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Grandis grows high-value timber assets (primarily teak) that adhere to international environmental sustainability and social responsibility standards. We advised an incoming investor taking over operations on sustainable forestry and finance requirements in Cambodia.
For more information on how USAID supported investment into this plantation, read here.

IBIS Rice Conservation Company produces organic and wildlife-friendly jasmine rice from Cambodia’s Northern Plains. It partners exclusively with certified Wildlife-Friendly forest farmers and works to preserve the environment through zero-deforestation, zero-poaching, and zero-chemical production. We provided the company with capital matchmaking and investment-readiness support that culminated in a successful capital raise that exceeded the original target by five times. More information here.

Cassia Co-op sources sustainable cinnamon and other products (patchouli) from smallholder farmers in Kerinci, Sumatra, Indonesia. It has full processing capacity and exports to international commercial buyers. Cassia provides training on intercropping and seedling inputs to smallholders to ensure sustainability and high-quality products, as well as engages in biodiversity protection. More information available here.

PT Kandelia Alam (KLIA) manages a mangrove concession in West Kalimantan, Indonesia following sustainable forest management (Forest Stewardship Council-certified) standards for wood products, including biomass for pulp, paper and energy production. We supported a feasibility study investigating different harvesting and processing options for the company as it seeks new investment to expand and scale up operations.

Fairventures Social Forestry GmbH supports the restoration of degraded areas in Indonesia with agroforestry and the cultivation of non-timber forest products in existing forests. Fairventures has partnered with local communities in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia holding a Social Forestry license for degraded lands allocated by the Indonesian government. The company cooperates with local permit holders, providing required investment capital, management expertise, and access to markets. We are supporting the company in achieving Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and attracting new investment to scale up operations.

We partnered with Hevea Connect, a digital marketplace for sustainably processed natural rubber, along with the NGO SNV and environmental consultancy firm Financial Access, to study ways to increase capital to smallholder rubber farmers in Indonesia, while also lessening the carbon footprint of Indonesia’s rubber plantations. The full study and summary version are available for download here.

In collaboration with Rabo Foundation, the impact investment arm of Rabobank, we conducted a portfolio-level carbon assessment of its investments in Indonesia to inform future reporting and emissions benchmarking for climate-smart agriculture investments. More information here.

Royal Lestari Utama, a joint venture between Michelin and Barito Pacific Group, aims to become the industry leader in sustainable natural rubber production in Indonesia. Asia Debt Management’s (ADM) Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF), &Green Fund, and others have supported investment into RLU to develop more than 90,000 hectares of rubber concessions with protected forest areas in Jambi and Kalimantan, Indonesia. For investors, we conducted a carbon assessment to assess the climate impacts of the project, along with recommendations of how to lower emissions.

Forest Carbon is a carbon project development company based in Indonesia whose mission is to substantially reduce forest-based greenhouse gas emissions by providing scientifically rigorous technical services for restoration and conservation programs. We supported the investor, Mirova Natural Capital, to vet the company and help it meet investor requirements, before it committed to investing $11 million into the company and it’s upcoming projects. For more information, read here.

Nestlé – one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies – has committed to be a “net zero” company by 2050, and to lower the environmental footprint of its operations, with an interim goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The company has committed to improving its green coffee supply chain to reduce emissions, and to enhance carbon sequestration. USAID Green Invest Asia and Nestlé are collaborating in two of the company’s key sourcing areas – Central Highlands, Vietnam and South Sumatra, Indonesia – to reduce the carbon footprint of Robusta coffee production and identify opportunities for forest restoration and insetting. More information here.

Lagenda Aktif Sdn Bhd currently holds a sustainable forest management license agreement with Malaysia’s State Government of Sabah to operate a 10,000-hectare area for 50 years. The concession agreement, which Lagenda now intends to sell, provides for long-term sustainability and helps maintain natural biodiversity while supplying requirements for the local timber industry. We are supporting Lagenda’s search for a suitable acquirer.

Agronomika Finance Corporation – a subsidiary of Kennemer – lends to smallholder farmers in rural areas of Mindanao, Philippines by linking its financial services into value chains such as cacao and banana. It provides loans for planting and agri-inputs of varied tenors using off-take agreements (buyers’ pre-orders) as collateral.

CocoPallet International produces environmentally friendly cost-competitive export pallets (for shipping) made from coconut husk waste. CocoPallets are 100% bio-based and fully circular, replacing single-use wood pallets and preventing logging and transportation of millions of trees. The first production factory will be a joint venture based in Mindanao, the Philippines. We are supporting the company in finding strategic partners and attracting new investment for its operations.

Lionheart Agrotech is a coconut cultivation and processing company focused on coconut flower-based products (syrup). The company employs an intensive production model utilizing hybrid seedlings, drip irrigation, cover crops, and other methods to improve yields on farmland in Palawan, the Philippines. The company is planning to expand its production on additional lands and to build new processing facilities to support export growth plans.

Kennemer Food International (KFI) is a Philippines-based agribusiness that specializes in growing, sourcing, and trading high-quality agricultural crops such as fermented cacao beans sourced from smallholder farmers. KFI operates a cacao contract outgrower program in Mindanao, providing smallholder farmers with high-quality planting material and other inputs, technology and training in good cacao farming practices, post-harvest assistance, guaranteed buy-back of the harvest at prices linked to the world-price, and facilitation of access to financing through Agronomika. We have supported Kennemer with investor matchmaking for its capital raise, business planning, financial modelling, as well as worked with its subsidiary Kennemer EcoSolutions (listed separately).

Kennemer Eco Solutions (KenEco), a subsidiary of Kennemer Food International, is developing a Carbon Fund to integrate climate financing into its business model. Multinational corporations will be potential off-takers of carbon credits generated from forest conservation and cacao agroforestry interventions. We supported a study of historic deforestation and land use change in Mindanao, serving as a foundation for identifying cacao landscapes to target for interventions and are connecting KenEco with appropriate investors in our network.

The Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, and are spearheading coconut oil sustainability in the industry. They are a business-to-business company, mastering every step in the value chain from the sourcing of raw materials to the production of the finest chocolates. As part of their Forever Chocolate commitment to make sustainable chocolate the norm, they aim to have 100% sustainable ingredients in all of their products by 2025. Barry Callebaut partnered with USAID Green Invest Asia to conduct a study on cacao-coconut intercropping in the Philippines, to support its coconut oil sustainable sourcing strategy.

Harmless Harvest manufactures organic coconut water, tea, and probiotic drinks. Its subsidiary in Thailand sources coconut from organic-certified coconut farms. We supported the company with a crop suitability study to inform where it can invest to expand production in an environmentally sound way, in addition to conducting a carbon footprint analysis to help it understand and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For more information.

Puratos-Grand Place Vietnam is a joint venture between Puratos Group and Grand-Place Holding, international companies that focus on bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. Since 2009, the company has implemented “Cacao Trace” in Vietnam, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, which aims to improve sutainability and transparency in the cocoa supply chain. Expansion plans include new processing facilities in Vietnam and partnerships with Vietnamese small and medium enterprises to develop new cocoa plantations. Puratos has committed to carbon neutrality by 2025 and we have supported them in assessing their corporate and supply chain emissions to develop strategic interventions for achieving this commitment.

BWG Mai Chau Joint Stock Company produces industrial bamboo and wood products in Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. It sources raw materials from local, FSC-certified smallholder producers and employs many ethnic minority women from the surrounding communities. The company’s goal is to research, develop and manufacture high-quality bamboo products and is now seeking new investment to expand and scale up operations.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) is one of the world’s top coffee and tea companies, purchasing green beans through its network of suppliers. In Vietnam’s Central Highlands, JDE and partners are implementing a sustainable coffee program for improved land use, enhanced yield and quality, and higher incomes for farmers. The results of a recent impact assessment we conducted are informing future interventions with JDE producers and aim to help replicate sustainability interventions elsewhere in Asia. The full study and summary version are available for download here.

Biomass Fuel is a wholly-owned Vietnamese subsidiary that manufactures wood pellets in Vietnam. The BMF Group sustainably sources wood-based biomass fuels from smallholder-managed timber planations in Vietnam, processing the raw material for export to Japan and South Korea. We are supporting the company to assist its smallholder producers achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and attracting new investment to scale up operations.

Nestlé – one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies – has committed to be a “net zero” company by 2050, and to lower the environmental footprint of its operations, with an interim goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The company has committed to improving its green coffee supply chain to reduce emissions, and to enhance carbon sequestration. USAID Green Invest Asia and Nestlé are collaborating in two of the company’s key sourcing areas – Central Highlands, Vietnam and South Sumatra, Indonesia – to reduce the carbon footprint of Robusta coffee production and identify opportunities for forest restoration and insetting. More information here.

New Forests is a sustainable real assets investment management company, raising capital for a new Tropical Asia Forest Fund that will be investing in sustainably-managed forests throughout the Asia region. To assist two of its subsidairies – Mekong Timber Plantation in Laos and Acacia Forest Industries in Malaysia – in meeting the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements, we helped develop a training program for local sub-contractor companies in environmental and social compliance.

Sail Ventures is a boutique investment firm with offices in The Hague, Singapore and Sao Paolo. The company was founded in early 2017 and has since grown to assets under management of approximately $125 million. It is the investment advisor for &Green Fund. This fund invests in commercial projects in agricultural production value chains to protect and restore tropical forests and peatlands and make agriculture more sustainable and inclusive – involving local communities, producers, financiers, supply chain companies, local and national government and civil society. USAID Green Invest Asia supports the fund’s due diligence of potential investees in Southeast Asia. The fund made its first investments in 2019 and 2020.