Cargill has signed a memorandum of understanding underlining its support for cocoa farmers and the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
The company has announced it will invest $3.25 million into its farmer training programme and support activities to enable cooperatives to obtain independent UTZ and Rain Forest Alliance certification.
The initiative includes a partnership with ANADER, Côte d'Ivoire's national rural development agency, to support farmer training and the distribution of 600,000 cocoa tree seedlings to participating cooperatives.
The $3.25 million training investment will be made as part of Cargill's Sustainable Cocoa Program, which is an ongoing commitment to build a sustainable cocoa supply chain, support cocoa farmers and improve livelihoods in cocoa-growing communities.
Cargill said it will train over 60,000 farmers across 90 cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire through over 1,100 farmer field schools in the year 2011 to 2012.
The agreement with ANADER was signed at a ceremony in Abidjan on Friday by the minister of Agriculture for Côte d'Ivoire, Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, and Cargill’s chairman and chief executive officer, Greg Page.
Commenting, Page said: "Côte d'Ivoire remains one of the foremost producers of cocoa in the world, and this agreement strengthens our ongoing commitment to help improve the farming practices and the livelihoods of Ivorian cocoa farmers, as well as support the development of the country's cocoa sector.”
Lionel Soulard, managing director West Africa, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, added: "Successful cocoa growing communities are important both for the development of the Ivorian economy and for our own business.
“We want to continue to provide support and assistance, where we can, to help improve the quality, yields and incomes of farmers so that cocoa farming can continue to thrive in the country for many generations to come."
Cargill’s chocolate product range includes Gerkens cocoa powders and Wilbur, Peter’s and Veliche chocolate, as well as coatings, fillings, cocoa liquors and cocoa butters. The company has facilities in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Germany, Ghana, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
Cargill has its own cocoa bean sourcing operations for buying, handling and/or exporting of cocoa beans in Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Founded in 1865, Cargill employs 138,000 people in 63 countries across the food, agricultural, financial and industrial products & services sectors.
