The Cargill Cocoa Promise strengthens company’s commitment to sustainable cocoa and its support for cocoa farmers and communities

Cargill has strengthened its global commitment to cocoa farmers and to building a sustainable cocoa sector through the Cargill Cocoa Promise. The commitment builds on the company’s work over the past 10 years and reconfirms Cargill’s efforts to grow and sustain cocoa farming communities while meeting the growing global demand for sustainable cocoa beans. The reinforcement of Cargill’s commitment was made at the World Cocoa Conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Cargill Cocoa Promise reinforces the company’s global commitment to making a difference in three key areas: training cocoa farmers; supporting cocoa farming communities; and investing in the long-term sustainable production of cocoa.

“The Cargill Cocoa Promise underlines our commitment to lead efforts on sustainable cocoa and support the future of cocoa farming around the world”, says Jos De Loor, President of Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business. “We have been working closely with cocoa farmers and communities for many years. Our Promise will help strengthen cocoa production – while continuing to improve the livelihoods of farmers, increasing access to education and healthcare in local communities, and providing better access to technology, finance and infrastructure.”

The Cargill Cocoa Promise will reinforce the company’s long-term work – by continuing to partner with local governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector – to provide farmer training, work in partnership with farmer organizations and positively contribute to local cocoa farming communities.

The program will see Cargill continue to invest and provide financing, training and support to maintain and strengthen a sustainable cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil. Already Cargill is on target to source over 100,000 tonnes of certified sustainable cocoa beans from Côte d’Ivoire by 2015 – making its program the largest of its kind in the country.

To date, Cargill’s activities and achievements to support sustainable cocoa production include:

• Over 1,100 farmer field schools teaching 60,000 Ivorian farmers and helping cooperatives to achieve UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certification.
• Over 26,500 Ivorian farmers across 43 UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certified cooperatives. receiving sustainable cocoa premiums payments totaling U.S. $7.6 million in 2011/12
• Training 15,000 farmers in Ghana to improve farming practices.
• A partnership with CARE that is improving access to education and healthcare amongst 130 rural cocoa-producing districts in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
• Training 1,000 Indonesian farmers to achieve UTZ or Rainforest Alliance certification.
• Over 100 cocoa demonstration farms in Vietnam showcasing sustainable farming practices
• Helping regenerate and develop cocoa growing regions in Brazil through farmer training and seed distribution.

An important part of the Cargill Cocoa Promise is to strengthen communities by increasing access to education, working to protect and promote the rights of children, and improving health and wellbeing. Cargill is working with a number of partner organizations, including CARE and the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), to achieve this. Projects include the delivery of schools, healthcare and social improvements in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil.

De Loor continued, “We want farmers, and their communities, to be successful for many generations to come. We are committed to helping communities get better access to training, education and healthcare that will deliver a real and lasting difference.”