Press

Balmed in press and media:

What Ebola costs one community

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the worst on record, more than 3,500 people have contracted the illness, and more than 2,000 have died. The outbreak has also meant profound changes to everyday life. Curfews, containment zones, and a near halt to agriculture have occurred, stalling the region's economy.
Balmed Holdings buys and sells cocoa, coffee, and cashews with local farmers in Sierra Leone. Medgar Brown, the CEO of Balmed Holdings, joined us over the phone from Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, to tell us how Ebola is affecting his community.

13,000 registered and certified cocoa and coffee farmers in Sierra Leone

Balmed is a company based in the cocoa and coffee sector in Sierra Leone whose aim is to not only buy and sell cocoa and coffee, but also to transfer knowledge to the youth and farmers, in order to improve living standards and incomes in rural areas.

Ein Waidler im Kampf gegen Ebola

Seit fast zwei Jahren lebt der Hauzenberger Michael Drexler in Sierra Leone. Eigentlich handelt er mit Kakao und Kaffee. Momentan jedoch beherrscht der Kampf gegen das Ebola-Virus seinen Alltag.

Challenges Of Running A Juice Factory

“I can sell you 14 235 pineapples”, that’s what a farmer said to Claudio Scotto, CEO of Africa Felix Juice. 14 235 pineapples - quite an impressive figure at first glance. If you put it into the context of Claudio Scotto, you will end up with a different interpretation: A lot of small scale farmers have no idea on the dimensions of commercially run processing businesses, processing up to eight tons of fruits per day.

How a Hershey Bar might prove mightier than a gun

Just in time for Halloween, North America’s largest chocolate producer, The Hershey Company, announced plans to source 100 percent of its chocolate from sustainable cocoa production.  Most of that chocolate will come from West Africa, a region wracked by coups and conflict since receiving independence in the 1960s. West Africa, in fact, produces 70 percent of the world’s chocolate. 

Know where your money goes

Balmed Holdings Ltd. was established in 2005 together with the Millennium Cocoa Growers Cooperative in the Kono district, in the east of Sierra Leone which now has 3,000 members. After years of investing in the farmers base, Balmed Holdings has a strong sourcing base and access to high quality cocoa beans.

Investing with a Purpose

Impact investing can meet the needs of society’s most disadvantaged, whether they are cocoa farmers in Sierra Leone or the hard-to-employ in New York.

Cocoa Breathes New Life into Sierra Leone Countryside

Former Liberian president Charles G. Taylor’s recent conviction for war crimes in Sierra Leone’s civil war was a rare moment of justice served. For me, it was especially fitting that just as an international tribunal in The Hague found Taylor guilty of orchestrating atrocities that killed 50,000 people and displaced countless others, Root Capital closed on its first loans in Sierra Leone with two Fair Trade certified cocoa enterprises that are helping rebuild the country.

Root Capital Gives First Loans in Sierra Leone

Skoll Awardee Root Capital just made its first loans in Sierra Leone. CEO Willy Foote discusses how investing in agriculture contributes to post-conflict stabilization.

Sierra Leone to be leader in organic cocoa

NGIEHUM, Sierra Leone — No one in this village wanted to be a cocoa farmer 15 years ago. The labor was hard, the crop was often plagued by disease and sold for lower than market prices. And most farmers ended up in debt because of loans taken out to pay seasonal workers.

Commercialising smallholder production

Smallholders can play a role in delivering food to meet growing demand, but a proactive business mindset will be needed to link producers to consumers

Alles Bohne

Erst 25 und schon Chef der eigenen Firma: Michael Drexler importiert Kakao aus Sierra Leone und macht Schokolade daraus. Seine Motivation ist nicht nur der mögliche Erfolg. Er will Aufklärungsarbeit leisten. In Afrika. Aber auch in Deutschland.

Matching supply with demand in Sierra Leone's agricultural sector

Working with smallholders to sell a crop they already grow is one thing (that’s what we’re doing with mango farmers). Working with smallholders to grow a new crop is a whole different ball game.

Riches that grow on trees

Investing in Sierra Leone’s Cocoa Sector Sierra Leone Trade & Investment Forum November 2009

Challenges and opportunities of a Public-Private Partnership in a post-conflict environment

The experience of German Development Cooperation in SME development in Sierra Leone

Contact Us

Phone:
+232 76 649660

Address:
Balmed Holdings Ltd.
2b Africanus Road
Kissy Dockyard
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Africa

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