Watch a video of how we are using our presence on the ground to work together with farmers to improve farming and cocoa quality Cargill's expertise on the ground

At Cargill sustainability is an integral part of our cocoa and chocolate business. We are taking actions that are delivering real, long-term benefits for cocoa farmers, their families and their local communities.

Drawing on our years of experience in sourcing cocoa, we focus on three main areas to develop  a sustainable supply chain: improving farmers’ livelihoods, supporting communities and minimizing environmental impacts.

In September 2010, we announced a three-year $5 million commitment to support sustainable cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.  It underlines our belief that supporting communities and training farmers is key to ensuring cocoa is produced sustainably and livelihoods improve. Part of this commitment included Cargill’s continued support for ANADER, Côte d'Ivoire’s national rural development agency. In November 2011, Cargill signed a new memorandum of understanding with ANADER to support farmer training activities in Côte d'Ivoire and to enable the distribution of 600,000 cocoa tree seedlings to farmers. We are also supporting similar initiatives in other cocoa growing countries, such as Cameroon and Vietnam.

Training and transparency

Our farmer field schools provide training on both farming skills and social issues. In Cote d'Ivoire, each school meets every two weeks over a nine month period with 25 - 30 farmers and includes: Agricultural practices including harvesting, pruning, weeding and the use of fertilizers Post-harvest practices, such as fermentation and drying cocoa beans Disease prevention, such as controlling pests and black pod disease Farm renewal, including dealing with aging trees and tree density Social matters, such as raising awareness of HIV, responsible labor practices and children attending school

We have been providing training to cocoa farmers for over 10 years. Today we are helping tens of thousands of farmers to increase yields, improve quality and adopt more sustainable practices.

We believe training directly contributes to increased earnings for cocoa farmers. While increases may vary depending on market price, quality and yields, farmers who adopt better farming practices benefit from higher incomes, as well as improving their long-term success. Training also helps farmer cooperatives achieve independent UTZ certification.

Our training is helping farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil. Through our networks of buying stations in local communities we are working closely with farmers and cooperatives to help them improve practices and cocoa quality at the start of the supply chain.

Our buying stations offer the same services that farmers receive at export terminals – quality checks, immediate payments, a higher price for high quality beans and transparent information on international market prices. This ensures farmers are rewarded fairly and paid promptly for good quality beans. As the stations are more local it means farmer cooperatives can make smaller, more frequent deliveries and because the travel times are shorter, the quality of the beans is maintained.

Investing to support local growth

We have invested in an extensive network of factories, warehouses, buying stations, research teams and trainers in the leading cocoa producing countries. This allows us to initiate projects with local communities and support farmers to overcome the challenges they face.

In West Africa, our processing plants in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire provide local employment as well as supporting the local cocoa sector. In Côte d'Ivoire we purchase approximately 85 percent of our cocoa beans from farmer cooperatives. Our presence on the ground enables us to share knowledge and support the cooperatives to provide better services, such as loans and healthcare, to their members.

Connections. Cargill is supporting efforts to bring back cocoa production and help farmers in areas of Brazil

Since 2004, we have been working to help Vietnam develop its cocoa sector. Along with the Vietnamese and Dutch governments, and Mars Incorporated, we are helping local farmers produce high quality sustainable beans to meet the growing demand for certified sustainable chocolate.  We have built seedling houses, set-up local buying stations and introduced training that has reached over 10,000 farmers. As a result Vietnam’s total crop has grown from less than 20 metric tons per year to a projected 2,500 metric tons by the end of 2011.

To promote cocoa growing in South Sulawesi in Indonesia, we have helped establish a seedling house. It has already distributed over 500,000 seedlings to help famers in the region renew tree stocks on their farms.