New financing round successfully concluded

Investors believe in the NEXUS concept: CHF 630,000 is being invested in the projects in Nepal and Madagascar. WECONNEX continues to develop the existing NEXUS Centers and supports smallholders in the sustainable production of food. We are excited to advance in our expansion and thank our partners for their commitment! Support us, too?!

More than half a million Swiss francs will flow into the projects – not as a donation but as an investment. Unlike traditional approaches, a NEXUS project involves all parties via a cooperative deal. This ensures that every-one has the same interests, and profits are shared fairly.

Madagascar: Improvements for fishing villages
In Madagascar, WECONNEX invests in infrastructure for local fishermen and integrates part of the value chain. Fishing products are processed and cooled in so-called NEXUS Centres. A logistics system with a cold chain ensures that the products remain fresh during transport and can be sold on the market in a higher quality and larger quantities.

This will stabilise and increase fishermen’s incomes in the long term and regulate fisheries through a market mechanism. Together with WECONNEX and the investors, the fishermen own the NEXUS Madagascar Com-pany (NEMACO). NEMACO implements the project, buys the fish from the fishermen and sells them on the market. Aid organisations such as the WWF act as (crucial) strategic partners by contributing with their knowledge of nature conservation and, in return, receive a market-based lever for enforcing guidelines on sustainable fishing. NEMACO continues to provide clean drinking water and solar power to the rural population produced at the NEXUS Centers.

Nepal: Focus on smallholder farmers
In Nepal, the NEXUS project focuses on working with smallholder farmers. The 15 existing NEXUS Centers continue to sell drinking water at fair prices, but are now being expanded with services and infrastructure for sustainable agricultural development. In a first step, the team will concentrate on the cultivation and processing of mushrooms. This endeavour enables par-ticularly small farmers to create additional value. Improvements in vegetable and fruit cultivation and processing are also planned. The first results will be visible soon – we will keep you informed.

Source: nexus ch