Harold Poelma (middle) addressing the gathering at the press conference while other executives look on
Cargill’s Cocoa & chocolate business has commemorated its 10th anniversary in Ghana by announcing plans for future investment and farmer support.
According to Cargill, its 2022 roadmap for Ghana, among others, includes offering capacity building support to 80,000 farmers with facilitated access to inputs through its farmer field schools, providing one million new cocoa seedlings for rehabilitation of old farms and 200,000 shade tree seedlings to protect cocoa trees and improve biodiversity, providing access to 30,000 farmers crops, completing 100 percent mapping of farms using geo-location and perimeter of the farms to allow deforestation monitoring and farm development and also developing 9,000 hectares of cocoa into a cocoa agro-forestry system.
Pieter Reichert, Managing Director, said, “Our 2022 roadmap is fully aligned with our global sustainability goals and consolidates our continuing support for a sustainable cocoa business here in Ghana. Completion of our mapping programme will ensure farm sizes are accurately recorded to support farmers in decision making and investment. At the same time 80,000 farmers will be trained in good agricultural, environmental and social practices to support certification.”
These initiatives are informed by the principles underpinning the Cargill Cocoa Promise – the company’s commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers and communities in a holistic way that will secure a thriving cocoa sector for generations to come.
Harold Poelma, President of Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, emphasized the importance of a sustainable cocoa industry and growing the sector using innovation.
Cargill also launched its Ghana licensed buying company, Cargill Kokoo Sourcing Company Limited in 2016 across four districts.
It introduced many innovations such as bar codes to enable the full traceability of cocoa beans, portable printers, new apps, electronic money transfer and cloud-based information systems, all which are new in Ghana, GH¢6 million (1,25USD) in premium payments paid to date, benefitting over 13,000 farmers.
By 2022, it’s anticipated that all of Ghana’s cocoa farmers in its direct supply chain – around 80,000 in total – will benefit from electronic payment and tracking.
Cargill has also installed a fully automated, digital solar power system at its Tema facility to diversify its energy supply.
This investment in renewable energy is part of Cargill’s commitment to continuously decrease the environmental impact of its businesses and contributes towards Ghana’s target of having 10 percent renewable energy in its electricity generation mix by 2020.
As a signatory of the Cocoa & Forests Initiative – a global collaboration to end deforestation related to cocoa production in Cote d’ Ivoire and Ghana – Cargill is committed to zero deforestation in its global supply chain by supporting activities to promote sustainable farming practices and improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities.