It takes more than 2 to tango: Impact bonds in Latin America and the Caribbean

In April 2015, a small but complex development financing experiment began in an unlikely place—the Amazon jungle of Peru—11 hours by car and boat from the capital of Lima.

This would be the first pilot of a development impact bond in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in fact, in the world. In this case, the goal was to increase the productivity and yield of cocoa and coffee farms to improve the lives of Asháninka farmers and their families. In an impact bond, which…