The Landscape Resilience Fund (LRF) is pleased to announce a €2 million loan into Slow, a pioneering coffee business with operations across Southeast Asia. With the support of the LRF, Slow will expand its business in Vietnam to help more coffee farmers improve their livelihoods and increase climate resilience through agroforestry.
A closer look at Slow
Nestled in the Central Annamites, a mountainous forest region in central Vietnam, Slow is working closely with farmers to produce premium coffee with a focus on positive environmental impact and social outcomes.
This region is rich in biodiversity and natural resources, which are vital for the local rural population’s livelihoods. Local smallholder farmers rely on rice, livestock, non-timber forest products such as rattan, fruits, and above all, coffee. However, many farmers struggle with climate impacts, coffee quality, and low incomes.
Slow addresses these challenges by working directly with farmers and cooperatives, bypassing the need for middlemen and increasing the prices paid to farmers. The company’s integrated value chain ensures that consistent quality can be delivered to its customers in Europe who benefits not only from high-quality, nature-positive coffee, but also supports their sustainability aspirations across climate, biodiversity and improving livelihoods in global value chains.
Slow helps farmers to transition their monoculture coffee farms to organic agroforestry systems, with a range of indigenous timber and fruit trees. Agroforestry supports biodiversity, sequesters carbon in shade trees and soil, and reduces farmers’ vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Planting trees provides coffee plants with shade from direct sunlight and protects against soil erosion caused by heavy rainfall. Moreover, areas with diverse plant species become more resistant to pests and diseases, enhancing the resilience of the coffee farming ecosystem, and additional income from fruit trees reduces reliance on coffee.
An investment in local capacity
As an investor focused on businesses that deliver measurable social and environmental benefit, the LRF has chosen to back Slow because of its progressive approach to agriculture and its ability to increase the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change. The funds will be used to establish local coffee processing facilities in Vietnam, cover upfront coffee payments to farmers, enhance its sustainability initiatives, and bolster links to European buyers.
“We are excited about the collaboration with LRF, because it allows us to elevate our efforts in Vietnam faster. Our mission is to showcase a new future for our broken food systems, and now we are able to accelerate our comprehensive transformation for the benefits of Vietnamese coffee growers and the planet.” Sebastian Nielsen, CEO of Slow
The company’s success should serve as a model for other businesses in the agricultural sector. It demonstrates that it is possible to achieve commercial success while prioritising environmental and social goals. Both Slow and the LRF hope this can inspire more companies to adopt regenerative practices and seek out investment that supports sustainable development.
“Supporting smallholders through a transition from conventional to sustainable practices is vital for local adaptation, as well as global climate change mitigation. We are excited to fund Slow as they deliver this change in Vietnam.” James Medcalf, Investment Manager and Slow investment lead at the Landscape Resilience Fund
This capital injection into Slow comes alongside the business’ existing partnership with WWF on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark-funded Prosperous Farmers and Forests Partnership, to support natural forest conservation and agroforestry transition. WWF will lead conservation activities to protect and restore natural forest in two nature reserves, and collaborate with Slow to train farmers in the buffer zones and support on-farm tree-planting, creating a biodiversity corridor between the nature reserves. Slow’s activities will also be supported by and contribute to the LRF’s landscape-level activities with WWF Vietnam on improved governance and sustainable supply chains, following the LRF integrated SME investment and landscape approach.
“Our loan to Slow adds to the growing body of evidence of the potential for impact investing to drive positive change in the agricultural sector, with mutually reinforcing benefits for both people and the planet.” Urs Dieterich, Investment Director
As Slow is able to accelerate their Vietnamese efforts with the backing of the LRF, it is poised to make even greater strides in promoting regenerative practices and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
About the Landscape Resilience Fund
The Landscape Resilience Fund is an impact-driven, independent foundation that mobilises private and public climate finance for vulnerable smallholders and landscapes. The mission of the LRF is to enable the most vulnerable people in rural landscapes to effectively adapt to climate change.
The Landscape Resilience Fund would like to thank the following firms who advised on this investment: Norten Rose Fullbright (Singapore), Rajah & Tann (Vietnam & Laos), and Horten (Denmark).