Climate change, rising production costs, and lack of diverse economic opportunities are making it increasingly hard for farmers to afford a decent standard of living. Our approach is designed to tailor support to farmers’ realities and build resilience in farming communities.
Our field staff and agronomists continually seek the best techniques and interventions to help farmers optimize their crop yields, quality and efficiency. In 2023, together with our partners, our in-country field teams helped enhance farmer livelihoods by providing support such as training, agricultural inputs, credit and infrastructure to nearly 500,000 farmers across our global supply chains. And we’ve seen that when supported farmers earn a decent income, they’re more likely to invest in their farms and cover household costs, all of which can support other benefits like improving soil health or reducing the risk of child labor.
With our customers and partners, we focus on:
- Training: Delivering besboke training programs to help improve farmers' yields, quality, and income.
- Resources: Providing farmers with improved varieties, credit, fertilizer, tools and other equipment to reduce production costs.
- Social and economic support: Tailored outreach for women and youth in farming communities, such as VSLAs, vocational traineeships, and scholarships.
- Living income: Applying ofi's Living Income Calculator to identify poverty hotspots and income drivers to apply to livelihood programs.
Reporting on our progress
Progress against our goals for empowering farming communities is reported in our Group 2023 Annual Report and dedicated product strategies: Cocoa Compass, Coffee LENS, Nut Trails and Dairy Tracks.
Updates for 2023 include:
- ofi's work with the The Living Income Community of Practice (LICOP)
- Farmer segmentation - success stories in Africa
- How we're empowering female voices within the cocoa community
Monitoring through AtSource+
AtSource+ allows customers to track metrics related to the economic opportunities of specific farmer groups. These metrics can include:
Average yield of a given farmer group
Number of farmers trained in Good Agricultural Practices and the average change in productivity change for farmers who have completed the training
Number of farmers to receive a Farm Development Plan: personalized advice based on data designed to improve productivity on their farm
Volumes of seeds, seedlings and fertilizer distributed to farmers
Value of farm support equipment distributed
Loans provided to farmers and workers
The AtSource dashboard also allows you to see how metrics change over time so you can understand the impact ofi programs have on farmers’ economic opportunities.
Farmer segmentation - success stories in Africa
The diversity of farm sizes, yields, skills, and economic context in our supply chains, means that interventions are more effective when tailored to each farmer’s reality. By applying a segmentation model to ofi’s extension services, we can tailor training and support to farmer’s economic circumstances and willingness to invest.
Since applying a segmentation model to extension services in our cashew supply chain in Ghana in 2021, over 400 cashew farmers have recorded a 55% yield increase following the adoption of advice from ofi agronomists on timely pruning and pest management. The model, which is also being applied in some of our coffee supply chains, allows our field teams to tailor training and support to farmers’ economic circumstances, farm type and willingness to invest.
Read ofi news
Today Olam Food Ingredients (“ofi”), one of the world’s largest suppliers of ingredients* from almonds to black pepper, has published sustainability targets to tackle the biggest challenges in the global cashew supply chain, starting with farmer livelihoods.
By Arouna Coulibaly, Managing Director Côte d’Ivoire, ofi (olam food ingredients)
Snack bars, spreads, nut-milks, cookies, and other sweet treats; cashew is becoming an increasingly popular ingredient across applications from bakery to beverages, feeding demand for healthier snacking options and plant-based proteins.
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