Mobilising internal finance within a forest and farm producer organisation: a case study of Alternative Finance for Development (AFID) of El Ceibo

This case study forms part of a series of six case studies on mobilising internal finance within Forest and Farm Producer Organisations (FFPOs) prepared by FFPOs for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF).

Founded in 1977, El Ceibo is a second-tier cooperative located in Sapecho, the most important cocoa-producing area in Bolivia. This case study describes how in 2011, El Ceibo developed Alternative Finance for Development (AFID), a communal financial entity, to support its members to invest in improvements to their cocoa production. El Ceibo’s members are also AFID’s main clients and the creation of AFID made it possible to mobilise money from El Ceibo’s cooperatives to offer appropriate credit products to its members.

The case study explores the origins of AFID, its impacts on its members, the lessons learned and its prospects for the future.