Prospero

Financing Fair Trade

ABOUT
Prospero is an Irish charity which provides finance at 'low or no' interest to Fairtrade certified cooperatives and businesses in developing countries. Fairtrade certification guarantees producers a premium on top of the price, which is used for social projects in the community, decided on by the cooperative members themselves. You'll find more information at www.fairtrade.ie.

Access to working capital is a major problem for Fairtrade producers, and many cooperatives and businesses are unable to pay their members for their produce until the cooperatives sell the product. This can take months. The farmers then become vulnerable to middlemen who pay them bad prices but who can offer them cash when they need it.

And even if Fairtrade cooperatives can get loans, huge interest rates - 20% and more - are common.

That’s why access to relatively small loans (€10,000 to €20,000) at ‘low-or-no’ interest rates can make a world of difference to many organisations in poor communities.

how we help

You make a donation or investment

Donations and investments are used to provide 'low or no' interest loans to Fairtrade certified organizations in developing countries. We collect your donations and investments and pool them into a single fund. Prospero offers loans from this fund to selected applicants. Because it has limited funds, Prospero currently lends only to organizations in Latin America.

We make a loan

To date (31 December 2024), Prospero has provided 53 loans worth €2,588,151.23 (US$2,951,792.60) to Fairtrade certified organizations in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. All loan repayments due have been made. We have also awarded 12 grants worth €149,986 to Fairtrade organizations in 8 countries: Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Tanzania.

Your funding is continuously recycled

When a loan is repaid, we re-loan the money to fund new projects. This allows your money to help not just one project but many people's dreams and aspirations come to life where they wouldn't otherwise be able to.

Testimonials

 ... a helping hand to local people to set up local businesses is charity working at its best. 

Bobby Kerr
Business 'Dragon'

 ... I have seen the difference that a Prospero 'low-or-no’ interest loan can make to a co-op in a desperately poor community. It is life transforming, it really is. 

Peter Gaynor
Fairtrade Ireland

 ... this is a wonderful way of helping some of the poorest people in the world to realise their potential. 

Síofra Campbell
Bewley's Ltd

 ... the lovely thing is that the money will be recycled again and again, bringing life and hope and all-important jobs to so many people in so many communities. 

John Douglas
President, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, 2013-2015

 ... this is an Irish charity giving practical assistance to those who need it most. It makes a real difference and deserves support. 

Marie Baker
Former Judge of the Supreme Court

 ...none of us had ever heard of Ireland before that wonderful day when the word arrived that someone in Ireland was lending us enough money to set up a co operative. We didn't let them down. Three years later we were able to repay the money in full. We will never forget you. 

Yelba Guzman
COOMPROCOM Cooperative, Nicaragua

Donate

50€

Donation Amount

Team

Prospero is managed by four unpaid volunteer trustees. It has no employees.

John Daly

Trustee

Now retired, John was a university administrator (Trinity College, Dublin, 1976-1983), a trade union organiser (Mandate, 1983-1990), secretary of APSO, an international development agency working under the auspices of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (1990-2003), with a break to become founding director of Fairtrade Ireland (1996-1999), which he chaired and where he worked until his retirement in 2015. He also worked for ActionAid Ireland (2003-2006).

Kieran Durnien

Trustee

From 1991 to 1996, Kieran worked with the Nicaraguan NGO Solidez, supporting the labour integration of people disabled in war. He has extensive knowledge of the importance of Fairtrade for the socioeconomic development of rural agricultural communities in Latin America, having worked from January 2004 to March 2016 as coordinator of a regional programme supporting certified Fairtrade organizations in Central America.

Nuala O'Connor

Trustee

Nuala is a documentary film maker in the area of music and the arts. In 1994 she won an Emmy Award for writing 'Bringing It All Back Home' for the Disney television channel in the US. She has written and directed documentaries for TV, including ‘Moment To Moment’, about The Gloaming; has co-written a TV history series ‘The Limits of Liberty’ and the documentary film ‘Keepers of the Flame’ with Diarmaid Ferriter; and directed many other documentaries.

Alex White

Trustee

Alex is Director General of the Institute of International and European Affairs and a Senior Counsel at the Irish Bar. He was a TD (Member of the Irish Parliament) from 2011 to 2016, when he was Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (2014-2016) and Minister for Primary Health (2012-2014). Previously, he was a member of Seanad Éireann (2007-2011), a Dublin county councillor (2004-2007) and a radio producer at RTÉ, the national broadcaster (1984-1994).

Contact

Prospero Foundation is a company limited by guarantee registered in Ireland
Registered Company Number 536680 / Registered Charity Number 20081843 / Charity Tax Number CHY 20592

Our registered address is Carmichael House, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7, D07 RHA8, Ireland

We are registered with the Central Bank of Ireland under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) legislation: code C460475

Email: info@prospero.foundation

Trustees: John Daly, Kieran Durnien, Nuala O'Connor, Alex White

Supported by: Bewley's Tea & Coffee Ltd, Concern Worldwide, FairCapital SA (Switzerland), Fairtrade Ireland, Insomnia Ltd, Irish Congress of Trade Unions and Stiftung Abendrot (Switzerland)