Cargill Gives First Sustainable Premiums to Increase Cocoa Farmer Incomes
By Cargill, PRNESunday, May 9, 2010
WORMER, Netherlands, May 10, 2010 - Cargill's Cocoa & Chocolate business has handed over the first UTZ
CERTIFIED premiums to two farmer cooperatives in Cote d'Ivoire. The two
farmer cooperatives - Co-operative Agricole de Fiedifoue and Coopaga -
received over U.S. $400,000 (200,000,000 CFA) for deliveries of UTZ CERTIFIED
sustainable cocoa beans since the beginning of October 2009.
The premiums will be shared amongst the cooperatives and their members
totalling almost 1,600 farmers. More than half of the overall amount is going
directly to farmers according to their individual deliveries since the
beginning of October. For maximum transparency farmers are able to consult
the list of the deliveries they made and check against the related amount
that is payable to them. The remainder of the money is retained by the farmer
cooperatives to strengthen their operations, help improve their organisation
and provide support to all of their farmer members.
"We are delighted to be able to hand over these premiums to the farmer
cooperatives," said Harold Poelma, managing director of cocoa, Cargill Cocoa
& Chocolate (www.cargill.com/company/businesses/cargill-cocoa-chocolate/index.jsp).
"The UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa programme was set-up to help produce cocoa more
sustainably and to improve the incomes and livelihoods of the farmers that
produce it. These premiums recognise the hard work undertaken by the farmers
and demonstrate that we are fulfilling our aims."
The UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa programme (www.utzcertified.org/index.php?pageID=224)
- co-founded by Cargill, along with Dutch development organisation
Solidaridad and others in the cocoa sector - has introduced independent
certification to improve agricultural, environmental and social practices in
cocoa production. It is supporting small-scale farmers to improve their
farming practices, thereby producing a higher quality crop with increased
productivity. The certification of the cooperatives in Cote d'Ivoire was the
result of an intensive 10 month training programme run by Cargill for the
farmers in the cooperatives.
Cargill's farmer training programme has resulted in farmers benefitting
from a 30% increase in their incomes from higher yields, as well as an
improvement in the quality of their crop. The better quality and compliance
with UTZ CERTIFIED standards (www.cargill.com/connections/utz-cocoa/index.jsp)
is being rewarded with these first payments of the UTZ Certification premium.
"We believe training farmers to increase yields, improve quality and
adopt more sustainable practices can directly contribute to increased
earnings for cocoa farmers," continued Harold Poelma. "While increases for
each farmer may vary depending on the market price, quality and yields,
farmers who adopt better farming practices are benefitting from higher
incomes, as well as improving their long-term success."
During the 10 month Farmer Field School training programme
(www.cargill.com/news-center/news-releases/2010/NA3024150.jsp),
farmers are trained in good and safe practices focusing on farming techniques
and post-harvest activities such as pruning, plantation renewal and cocoa
fermentation methods. In addition the programme also stresses broader social
aspects, such as the importance of ensuring children's education and HIV
awareness.
To continue to support cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, Cargill has made a
commitment to train 10,000 farmers in 300 Farmer Field Schools across 35
cooperatives by the end of 2010. The Farmer Field Schools will enable
cooperatives to become UTZ CERTIFIED, and this means that by the end of this
year more than 10,000 tonnes of cocoa beans will be available for use in
sustainably certified chocolate and cocoa products.
About UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside
UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside is a sustainability program dedicated to
creating an open and transparent marketplace for agricultural products. UTZ
CERTIFIED has developed sustainability models for the production of cocoa,
coffee and tea, and offers traceability services for palm oil. UTZ
CERTIFIED's vision is to achieve sustainable agricultural supply chains in
which farmers are trained to be professionals. The industry takes
responsibility by demanding and sourcing sustainably grown products and
consumers buy products that meet their standard for social and environmental
responsibility.
In 2007, Cargill, Ecom Agroindustrial, Heinz Benelux, Mars, Nestle, Royal
Ahold, Solidaridad, Oxfam Novib, WWF and UTZ CERTIFIED founded the Good
Inside cocoa program. In August 2009, two co-operatives in Cote d'Ivoire
received the first UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa certificates for 1,590 member farmers
after working with Cargill and Solidaridad in an intensive eight month
program, with support of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative. The first
certified cocoa beans were officially presented on November 7th, 2009 to Mr.
Bert Koenders, the Dutch Minister of Development Co-operation.
The first UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa and chocolate products are now available in
the market. For more information visit: www.utzcertified.org.
About Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate:
Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate offers the food industry a wide range of both
standard and customised cocoa and chocolate ingredients to be used in
delicious bakery, confectionery, and dairy applications all over the world.
Our product range includes high quality Gerkens(R) cocoa powders, chocolate
including Wilbur(R), Peter's(R) and Veliche(R), coatings, fillings, cocoa
liquors and cocoa butters. With years of experience in technical food
expertise Cargill supports its customers in new recipes and new product
development.
Our facilities in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cote d'Ivoire, France,
Germany, Ghana, the Netherlands, UK and the USA are fully dedicated to
produce in accordance with the highest food safety standards.
To secure a good quality and sustainable supply of cocoa beans we have
our own cocoa bean sourcing operations for buying, handling and/or exporting
of cocoa beans in Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Presence in all the leading producing countries allows Cargill to oversee the
supply chain from beans at origin to cocoa and chocolate products on our
customers' doorstep. In addition, extensive market research and analysis
proves to be a source of valuable information to our customers.
For more information visit: for EMEA www.cargillcocoachocolate.com
and for North America www.cargill.com/food/cocoachocolate
About Cargill:
Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural,
financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the
privately held company employs 138,000 people in 67 countries.
Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and
is committed to applying its global knowledge and experience to help meet
economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business. For
more information, visit www.cargill.com.
www.cargill.com/news-center/news-releases/index.jsp
Wendy Garbutt, +44-1932-861-174, wendy_garbutt at cargill.com, or Steven Fairbairn, +44-1932-861-174, steven_fairbairn at cargill.com, both of Cargill
Tags: Cargill, France, Germany, May 10, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Wormer