Hurricane Matthew just swept across the Caribbean, leaving behind destruction and crumbled infrastructure. In Haiti, impassable roads and destroyed bridges between the capital Port-au-Prince and the areas most impacted by the hurricane pose the biggest challenge in reaching the affected population. The overall damage of the hurricane is estimated in the billions of dollars.
In pre-Columbian times, cocoa was a commodity so valuable it was used as a currency. In Mesoamerica, where it has been consumed for millennia, the Aztecs paid for everyday items in cocoa beans. Three would buy you a turkey egg, one hundred a whole hen.
Latin America and the Caribbean count for 40% of the world’s biodiversity. However, the region has lost a big part of its natural capital during the past decades. For that reason, the IDB, in partnership with the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), recognizes the importance of taking action to support countries and private sector companies in the region to manage their natural resources to generate economic growth.