Finding Solutions
Connections to meet global challenges
Shrinking shipping’s carbon footprint one tank of waste at a time
Have you ever wondered if there was a better way to dispose of the oil left in the pan after you’ve cooked a meal? What if that oil — and similar residues — could be turned into fuel for ships and trucks? Cargill is making that possible at our advanced biodiesel plant in Ghent, Belgium. This facility is producing 120,000 metric tons of renewable biodiesel for trucking and ocean transportation customers per year. That’s enough to reduce transportation emissions by an estimated 418,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to roughly 90,000 cars from the road for a year.
Putting people first in Ukraine
Throughout our 158-year history, two things have remained constant: We put people first and we nourish the world. That’s why, amid the devastating war in Ukraine, we’re prioritizing the safety of our employees as they keep food flowing. It’s also why we’ve invested more than $40 million to support humanitarian efforts in the region, including partnering with World Food Program USA to support the United Nations World Food Programme in providing food packages to people in Kharkiv, working with The HALO Trust to educate 5.3 million people about the risks of landmines in farmland, and supporting the Superhumans Center for rehabilitating victims of war.
‘Trees are our common heritage’: How Cargill helps farmers protect them
Ouatara Shaka, a cocoa farmer from Côte d’Ivoire, understands the economic pressures farmers face to convert forests to farmland. That’s why he joined a PUR and Cargill program promoting agroforestry — a practice that’s planted 1.2 million trees since 2017 while helping 21,000 cocoa farmers supplement their incomes. From cocoa to soy to palm, Cargill is partnering around the world to ensure sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, and farmer livelihoods can coexist.
Empowering women farmers to grow a more sustainable food system
More than 50% of the world’s food is sown, grown, and harvested by women. Yet, these women aren’t always recognized for their leadership in advancing a sustainable food system. Through the Promoting a Sustainable and Food Secure World Program, Cargill and long-time partner CARE are working to increase opportunities for women farmers, improving access to markets and productive agriculture resources, and building strategic partnerships to empower large-scale change. The latest phase aims to reach 1.6 million people across 11 countries throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Ripple effects: Connecting farming communities with clean water
For cocoa farmer Stephen Akubila, finding safe, clean water was a big challenge. Most of the boreholes in his southwestern Ghana community had broken down. The few that remained didn’t have enough supply. Water challenges like these are all too common in the world’s farming communities. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Global Water Challenge to improve water access for more than 150,000 people by 2024.
Partnering with food banks to provide more sustenance, less waste
With about one in 10 people worldwide going hungry, the need for sustenance from food banks is clear. That’s why Cargill provides tens of millions of meals per year to global and local food bank partners. Reducing food waste is another critical role for food banks — and for Cargill. To help reduce the 66 million tons of food wasted by the food retail, food service, and residential sectors in the U.S. each year, we’ve launched Reskued. This upcycling app connects food distributors with local buyers to circulate good products at a discounted price before they go to waste.
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