ofi’s Cashew business is one of the first businesses for Olam in Ghana and presently we are a leading exporter of raw cashew nuts from Ghana. We are happy that over the years we have been part of the success story of Ghana’s cashew industry growth and contributed to it responsibly as a market leader.
Over the years, we have invested in capacity building for Cashew farming communities to help them overcome challenges such as low yield, poor quality and access to market. We offer year-round support to our farmers and have built strong relationships. We collect produce from farmers and aggregate inventory at ofi - warehouses, which also receive goods from our buying agents. Each location is equipped with drying and packing facilities allowing us to maintain the quality of the product and prepare it quickly for export to customers outside of Ghana.
Beyond the harvest season, we train farmers in Good Agricultural Practice to help them farm sustainably, increase their economic prosperity and create healthy ecosystems. We identify training needs at a community level and deliver tailored programmes.
It is refreshing to know that apart from supporting the growth of the Ghana cashew crop through the annual distribution of free cashew grafts to the farmers with whom we are directly connected to, we also promote alternative livelihood income support programs in cashew orchards. Our flagship program in bee keeping has seen over 400 women trained so far and set up in honey production: an additional household income from cashew orchards tailored towards women.
We also provide knowledge support and related training programs to adhere to the stipulated framework for Organic Cashew.
Overall, Cashew team has believed in working with the farming community beyond the routine transactional relation and extend into activities which could lead to the welfare of the cashew farmers.
From sourcing cocoa beans at the farmgate and establishing a Licensed Buying Company in 1999, to working with farming communities across the country and operating a state-of-the-art factory, we provide Ghanaian cocoa products to customers worldwide.
Traceability and sustainability are at the core of our operations. We source beans from smallholder farmers across Ghana and provide year-round support to help them achieve the best income for their crop. The cocoa business has maintained leadership position as the number I license Buying Company (LBC) in the country with presence across the entire cocoa landscape.
Our support ranges from micro financing, to training on Good Agricultural Practices and Climate-smart agriculture, to supplying hybrid cocoa and shade tree seedlings.
Olam is a founding member of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI). We are currently working in several landscapes in Ghana partnering with Government, NGOs, and other state Institutions to develop cocoa landscapes by supporting farmers improve productivity and livelihoods using LMB approach.
Read ofi news
Author | Andrew Brooks | Head of Sustainability, Cocoa, ofi
World Chocolate Day, a day to not only indulge, but to remember the people and landscapes that grow the cocoa that goes into our favorite products. Both are vital to help maintain a sustainable future for cocoa production. That’s why as part of our Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition, we collaborate with our customers and partners on multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive collective action and lasting impact.
Climate change is among the biggest challenges in growing cocoa. In Indonesia, for example, intensive rainfall, drought, rising temperatures, and an increase in related pests, threatens farmer yields and erodes their livelihoods, including those of women and indigenous groups that depend on their crops for subsistence. Yet many farmers struggle to access the support they need to adapt and become more resilient.
A climate-smart agroforestry system is key to addressing and mitigating climate change risks, which is why we co-created the Landscape Approach to Sustainable and Climate Change Resilient Cocoa and Coffee (LASCARCOCO), a three-year partnership with USAID, non-profit Rikolto, the Hershey Company, and the Indonesian Government, to help 6,500 farmers increase yields by 25% and conserve 14,000 hectares by late 2025.
Through the partnership, we have developed a new curriculum to train farmers in Good Agricultural Practices and climate adaption, promoted sustainable agroforestry – where forest and shade trees are planted alongside cocoa and coffee to restore forest covers – and provided farmers with seedlings. It’s already making a difference – in year one of the project, approximately 8,600 individuals were reached directly or indirectly via the program. The LASCARCOCO USAID ofi project has successfully bridged a constructed collaborative action with stakeholders involved in the project such as farmers, forest communities, government, and forest authorities to deliver an agroforestry program.
Good landscape governance is also critical to protect the land and the incomes of the farmers who work it. In Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, we’re working with the Rainforest Alliance and USAID on the Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies (RESTORE) project. This not only promotes regenerative and sustainable cocoa production; it also aims to strengthen Landscape Management Boards (LMBs).
These boards are important because they bring key stakeholders together – community members, local farmers, the Ghanaian Forestry Commission, and COCOBOD – and give the local community a say in how the land is managed. We provide ongoing support and training to LMB members on everything from management and financial literacy to climate-smart farming and forest-friendly enterprises such as beekeeping and piggery.
Whilst we’re proud of the impact we have made so far, there is still much more to do. We remain focused on working with customers, civil society, national governments, and other stakeholders to support farmers and to protect landscapes across origins – so when consumers pick up their chocolate bar or cocoa-flavored treat, they can be confident that it’s been produced in a way that supports people and helps protect the planet.
Author | Billie Elmqvist Thurén | Human Rights ofi Sustainability & Cocoa Lead
Accessible education is an effective way to reduce the risk of the incidence of child labor as well as providing a foundation for protecting children’s rights. Through our Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS), we monitor and identify the specific needs of communities across our nine global sustainable sourcing regions.
From providing access to schools closer to home to initiatives that empower cocoa households to be more economically resilient, here are a few ways we are removing barriers for children in our cocoa supply chain to attend school and develop their future potential.
- New 2030 social and environmental targets set for ofi’s global operations which span ~50 countries, building on the existing product-specific strategies for cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices.
- Strong focus on supply chain excellence to enhance supplier engagement, mitigate supply chain risks, and give customers more rigorous, verifiable data for sustainability decision-making and reporting.
- Impact will be achieved in partnership with farmers, governments, civil society and ofi’s customers, backed by clear action plans and methodologies outlined by ofi.
ofi, a leading supplier of naturally good food and beverage ingredients, today unveiled a new sustainability strategy – ‘Choices for Change’ and ambitious 2030 targets.
Global food brands and retailers are facing growing consumer demand for sustainable products, with increasing weather related and other challenges in the food supply chain and significant new sustainability linked legislation coming up. With ‘Choices for Change’, ofi will provide these companies and their consumers with specific choices to deliver long-term impact across four critical pillars: Prosperous Farmers, Thriving Communities, Climate Action, and Regenerating the Living World.
Every 2030 target in the Choices for Change strategy delivers on key customer needs, including:
- Delivering enhanced livelihood support to one million farmers, helping them to be more productive and deliver better quality ingredients.
- Cutting scope 3 emissions by 30% to offer customers verifiable, low-carbon products and ingredients and contribute to net-zero commitments.
- Bringing 2 million hectares of land under regenerative farming practices to create long-term farm resilience and products with verified positive natural impact.
To give customers more rigorous, verifiable data for sustainability decision-making and reporting, the strategy incorporates a focus on supply chain excellence. This brings traceability, data insights, risk mitigation, verification, and in-depth supplier engagement together to enable the right choices and includes ofi’s suite of award-winning tech tools like AtSource - the sustainability management system and its built in Carbon Scenario Planner for planning and costing climate action.
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