Hardly any impact can be achieved without support. At this moment in time, there are over 22,000 Sistema.bio digesters producing clean, renewable energy and organic fertilizer for small and medium farms around the world. And each one of those biodigesters is the direct result of the combined efforts of our sales agents, our technicians, our engineers, our distributors and, of course, our partners & investors. Over the years, many organizations and institutions have supported and believed in us, and it is through them that we have been able to scale our impact. One of such supporters is FMO, who has been with us as an investor since 2019.
Now more than ever, we need to work together. We must find common goals and join forces as we work towards them, collaborate until we see them through. The 2x Challenge was created with the goal of women’s economic empowerment, inspiring Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to invest in the world’s women. The initiative first set out in 2018, calling for the mobilization of 3 billion USD for investment in women-led and women-focused enterprises. In that first stage, the initiative not only fundraised 100% of its objective but actually tripled it, mobilizing over 10 billion dollars in financing for women. In this second round (2021-2022), the 2x Challenge has set itself an ambitious new goal of 15 B, to be raised between DFIs, the private sector, governments, and foundations.
FMO joined the 2x Challenge in 2019, committing to focus their investments in women’s economic empowerment. Early this year, we were approached by FMO —their 2M investment in Sistema.bio was eligible as a 2x Challenge investment! We shared with them all the information required, and are happy to announce that we have accredited under the following criteria:
- Leadership: 4 out of 10 people at Sistema.bio’s senior management and 1 out of 6 board members are women.
- Consumption: Although our targeted customers are small farmers, women tend to be the ones that are in charge of fuel collection, household economics and care labor such as cooking and cleaning, especially in the rural areas we serve. Women therefore disproportionately benefit from our clean cooking solution: less time spent collecting and preparing firewood, reduced indoor pollution and fuel-related expenses.
Gender equality, women’s economic empowerment and increased overall quality of life have always been a part of Sistema.bio’s mission. Being selected for the 2x Challenge is a testament to our commitment, as well as an inspiration to keep looking for new opportunities to improve working and living conditions for our world’s rural women.
