In 2025, the NESsT Lirio Fund extended repeat loans to Greenbox and Cuencas del Huallaga, reflecting our continued commitment to these enterprises’ business models and impact.
Operating in regions in Peru where farming families have few income livelihood options and often turn to illicit crops and environment-damaging monocultures to generate quick income, these enterprises offer sustainable livelihood alternatives through sustainable, organic agriculture and meaningful technical assistance.
After successfully repaying their previous loans on time and meeting or exceeding NESsT’s environmental and social impact targets, Greenbox and Cuencas del Huallaga will use these follow-on investments to strengthen operational capacity and scale impact across the local communities they serve.
“Unlike traditional investors, we offer long-term, repeat investments to support our portfolio enterprises to grow their operations sustainably and maintain strong social and environmental impact over time.”
A fifth loan to Greenbox to ensure continued support for over 500 smallholder farmers in Peru's Andes Amazon
Photo: Greenbox production assistant packages organic dried mango.
Located in Tarma, Peru in the Andes Amazon, Greenbox is a social enterprise that supports farmers to switch to organic production over illicit crops such as coca.
Farmers in the region are smallholders who practice subsistence agriculture, use limited technology, and sell their produce in the local market, where prices are volatile each season and depend on climate factors and demand pressures. This volatility leads many farmers to seek out products like coca that provide higher margins, but which also carry a higher risk of violence and crime.
Greenbox works with over 500 small farmers in this region to grow and source organic goldenberry, banana, pineapple, and mango that is then dehydrated and sold as dried fruits to clients internationally. By promoting sustainable agricultural practices and working closely with local farmers to switch to organic production and obtain organic certifications, Greenbox secures its members a fair and stable price – 60% higher than on the informal market, fixing a minimum price for the year. This improved cash flow enables farmers to grow their businesses. More than half of the farmers supplying to the company are women and from Indigenous communities.
Between 2019 and 2024, NESsT extended four loans to Greenbox, supporting the social enterprise to scale its production and strengthen its presence in the organic dried fruits sector in Peru and abroad.
These loans allowed Greenbox to continue sourcing organic fruits from local producers at premium prices and offer them meaningful technical assistance to help grow their plots into successful small businesses that generate stable incomes.
Greenbox prioritized strong relationships with its farmers, expanded its plant workforce from 40 to 240 employees from underserved communities, and doubled its customer case. As a result, Greenbox’s sales grew from $1M to $12M and Greenbox met all repayments to NESsT on time.
“Greenbox believes in me professionally. As a woman, they give me the opportunity to work and trust my abilities. They also continue to test my knowledge and help me grow. Greenbox trains me and gives me the opportunity to improve my skills in managing and using various equipment and machinery.” ”
Photo: The Lirio Fund team visits Greenbox in 2025
In 2025, NESsT extended a fifth, flexible loan to support Greenbox's continued expansion. This investment will go towards infrastructure and equipment, supporting the enterprise’s plans to expand other product lines such as mango, goldenberry, and blueberry, and hire an experienced operations manager to oversee growth.
Greenbox will also establish a dedicated team to reach and certify new suppliers, supporting both locally-led cooperatives and independent farmers who manage their own farms to meet international quality standards and increase their household income.
“After a rigorous due diligence process, NESsT granted us funding when no one in commercial banks believed in us. It was like a miracle. We increased the size of our staff and improved our products. This accelerated our business growth.”
A renewed working capital loan to Cuencas del Huallaga to support the livelihoods of more than 1,000 smallholder farmers in the Peruvian Amazon
Located on the banks of the Huallaga River in the Peruvian Amazon, Cuencas del Huallaga Asociacion de Productores Agropecuarios (“Cuencas”) sources high-quality Fairtrade, organic cacao from 1,128 smallholder farmers, paying fair prices for their products.
Photo: Cuencas’ smallholder farmers on their small cacao farms
The agricultural association operates across remote San Martin, Ucayali, and Junín communities that have limited access to basic public services, healthcare, and education – around 90% of the local population do not have a high school diploma. While agriculture is the backbone of the region, local small farmers often face difficulties in reaching the market and have to resort to selling their crops to middlemen at low prices.
Cuencas equips its members with technical training in organic farming methods, helping them achieve high cacao yields while avoiding the use of harmful pesticides. This support helps producers to transform their farms into profitable, eco-friendly businesses and increase their household incomes.
“Working closely with NESsT’s portfolio managers, our aim is to build on our decade of work in the region improving rural livelihoods and enhancing sustainable local development. Together, we can generate and sustain positive social, environmental, and economic change across the local communities of San Martin, Ucayali, and Junin, and for the small-holder producers who live and work there.”
Cuencas joined the NESsT Lirio Fund in 2023, gaining access to a revolving credit line over two years and technical support to grow as a cacao exporter. Despite operating through a period marked by volatile prices, climate shocks, and delayed harvests, Cuencas expanded its client base and strengthened its operations, with sales increasing from close to $3M to over $16M, all while successfully scaling its social impact.
Supported by targeted outreach in existing and new communities and the mapping of an additional 1,000–1,500 potential smallholder farmers in the San Martín region, Cuencas grew the number of producers in its network from 500 to over 1,000. These efforts were complemented by continued support to implement sustainable practices, increasing land under sustainable management by its producers by around 30%.
Additionally, Cuencas also uses a geolocation app to monitor the cacao production of its members and detect areas in which trees are cut down to plant crops. This advanced quality control system guarantees the traceability of its cacao beans and allows the cooperative to work alongside its members to improve their farming practices and prevent deforestation. The app also enables Cuencas to maintain close communication with farmers and their families to ensure their wellbeing.
Photos: Members of Cuencas
In 2024, 40% of its members received support to implement geolocation on their farms. Cuencas is currently working towards supporting all of its members to adopt this technology.
While this growth was supported by higher cacao prices globally, it demonstrates that more than simply producing more cacao, Cuencas successfully connected its producers to high-quality, sustainable markets that pay premium prices, supporting stable farmer incomes and environmental conservation.
With this track record in place, NESsT has extended a new working capital loan to Cuencas support its next phase of growth—allowing the company to reach more smallholder farmers, complete georeferencing of its members, and deepen efforts to increase women’s participation across the cooperative, while continuing to provide stable and predictable incomes to cacao producers.
Learn more about the Lirio Fund’s work, explore partnership opportunities, and apply for a loan below.