Cargill and Solidaridad Form $4.6 Million Global Partnership to Enhance Farmer Livelihoods and Sustainable Farming Practices

Cargill and Solidaridad Form $4.6 Million Global Partnership to Enhance Farmer Livelihoods and Sustainable Farming Practices

(IN BRIEF) Cargill and Solidaridad have initiated a strategic global partnership aimed at enhancing the livelihoods of farmers, promoting climate-friendly farming practices, and advancing conservation and responsible land use. Over a three-year period, the $4.6 million program will impact approximately 3,400 farmers across five countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Malaysia, and Paraguay. The partnership’s initial focus will be on soybean and palm oil producers, with interventions encompassing training in sustainable agricultural practices, assistance for farmers in obtaining sustainability certifications, increased productivity and market access, and responsible land and water management. Beyond these objectives, the collaboration aims to empower farmers in the market, particularly concerning climate initiatives and digital inclusion, enabling them to access carbon markets and gain greater control over their data. This partnership builds upon a decade of regional and local cooperation between Cargill and Solidaridad, fostering a more impactful and globally aligned approach to sustainable agriculture.

(PRESS RELEASE) UTRECHT, 27-Sep-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — The initial program will include producers of soybeans and palm oil across five countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Malaysia and Paraguay. The work focuses on three thematic areas: climate, land use, and farmer livelihoods. Interventions will include training in good agricultural practices, support for farmers to achieve sustainability certifications, improved productivity and market access, and responsible land and water use.

“At Cargill we are committed to engaging with farmers around the world to transform agriculture supply chains to be more sustainable and inclusive. With partners like Solidaridad, we can continue to make this a reality. This new program will enable us to support more farmers and farming communities in adopting sustainable practices and build up their farming businesses,” said Taryn Davis, Strategic Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement at Cargill. “We are excited about this new phase of work and the transformative power of partnership.”

Cargill and Solidaridad have worked together for over a decade at a regional and local level to advance sustainable practices and partner with farmers to improve livelihoods while conserving natural resources. This new global partnership will be rooted in common goals across all regions, allowing more resources to be dedicated to program work with farmers.

“Given our years of work together on various projects, this partnership is a strategic shift that will align our efforts and apply learnings to spread impact wider,” said Michaelyn Baur, Managing Director of Solidaridad North America.

BUILDING ON INNOVATION

Beyond the primary goals of the partnership, Solidaridad and Cargill aim to improve farmers’ position in the market with training on agricultural and sustainability practices.

• Opportunities in climate – The partnership will apply innovative approaches that can help farmers reduce carbon emissions and apply regenerative practices that will enable farmers to access high-value carbon markets. This leverages the expertise of Solidaridad and Cargill to help farmers build greater resiliency and access this growing market.
• Working toward fair digital inclusion – The increasing demand for farmer data presents complex challenges around data privacy, security, and ethics. Most farmers have limited access to and understanding of how to benefit from their own data. Empowering farmers to benefit from data sharing and retain control over their information is critical for full digital inclusion.

The global food system begins on the farm. By ensuring that farmers have what they need to succeed and produce in a sustainable manner, the Cargill and Solidaridad partnership contributes to responsible and safe supply chains that nourish people and protect the planet.

About Solidaridad

Solidaridad is an international civil society organization with over 50 years of experience in developing solutions to make communities more resilient and create more sustainable supply chains. Solidaridad works in over 40 countries, on five continents, through seven independently supervised regional offices. In 2022, Solidaridad worked alongside 1.4 million small-scale farmers on 3.4 million hectares of land, and over a million workers and miners, along with companies, processors, and governments.

Learn more at www.solidaridadnetwork.org.

About Cargill

Cargill helps the world’s food system work for you. We connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients and families with daily essentials—from the foods they eat to the floors they walk on. Our 160,000 team members around the world innovate with purpose, empowering our partners and communities as we work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, sustainability way.

From the feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are boundless. But our values remain the same. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing. It’s how we’ve met the needs of the people we call neighbors and the planet we call home for 158 years—and how we’ll do so for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

Media Contact:

Tel: +31 (0)30 275 9450
Email: info@solidaridadnetwork.org

SOURCE: Solidaridad Network