In 2026, Higher Grounds, along with our sister non-profit partner On the Ground, launched our pre-financing program. This first project with AIPEP in Bolivia (where we source our product Bolivian Caranavi) covers the costs that farmers incur before they receive payment for their coffee, which generally happens once that coffee is exported and arrives to international partners.

Historically, the long delay between picking and final shipment creates cash‑flow instability for the growers at the benefit of the buyers and consumers. Business financing in the coffeelands is expensive and hard to find: only about US$300 million is available to meet an estimated US$3 billion global need.

On the Ground’s program offers short‑term loans to cooperatives so they can pay farmers immediately for their delivered crop, helping families afford essentials such as food, school fees, and farm inputs while waiting months for final settlement. In this context, “pre‑financing” refers to borrowing against expected coffee sales to bridge that gap. These solidarity‑based loans are tailored to each cooperative and backed by coffee contracts through Cooperative Coffees, and they are a key part of the circular economic model in which Higher Grounds reinvests profits from fair‑trade, organic coffee sales into community projects and financing to strengthen long‑term partnerships. This kind of project ensures that the income provided by the sale of specialty coffee is delivered in time to meet the needs of farmers and their families.