INVESTING IN A CONTINENT

Singapore-based Olam International plays a key role in ensuring food security across six continents, its Regional CFO for West and Central Africa, Sujay Sarkar, tells us more

For most of history, the world has been focussed on driving productivity to meet the increasing food needs of a growing population.

“In Africa, growing incomes combined with rapid population growth are fuelling food demand across the continent. Research shows that while food production has increased globally by 145 percent over the last 40 years, food production in

Africa has fallen by 10 percent since 1960 despite the fact the continent still possesses 65 percent of uncultivated arable land. The continent’s capacity to become self-sufficient relies heavily on unlocking its agricultural potential.”

These opening words spoken by Sujay Sarkar succinctly highlight the imperative need to unleash Africa’s potential to produce more food.

As Senior Vice President and Regional CFO for West and Central

Africa at Olam International, he is supremely well-placed to comment on the subject, Olam being a multinational agribusiness giant headquartered in Singapore and present on six continents.

It aims to reimagine global agricultural and food systems by focussing on three core areas – prosperous farmers and farming systems, regeneration of the living world and thriving communities.

“We have a direct and vested interest in tackling anything that could impact the future of agriculture,” Sarkar says.

“Our sustainable sourcing platform, AtSource, is a powerful tool in this fight as it crystalises our experience in

managing social and environmental challenges, and gives us the data and insights to engage customers and partners to catalyse change together.

“By revealing where the community needs lie and where efforts can be prioritised, this transparency brings global food companies closer to the thousands of farmers in Olam’s supply chain.

“Long ago, we understood technology isn’t a panacea, but has huge potential to transform communities, and protect the environment for the better. For example, in Gabon we are using drones to map our plantations and survey thousands of hectares of high conservation value forest and buffer zones.

“At the same time, the Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS) is helping cocoa farmers in Ghana and Nigeria make data driven decisions on when to plant, when to spray, how much water to use and the optimum time to harvest. The same data is allowing Olam to track the environmental and social footprint of agricultural produce.”

Building relationships with smallholder farmers lies front and centre of Olam’s agenda.

It is estimated that smallholder farmers own and/or work on 90 percent of the world’s farming areas, making them the backbone of global food security. Ensuring they receive the best price for their produce is therefore critical, and Olam strives to achieve this in several ways.

First, it is facilitating reliable market access through decentralised buying models which eliminates the middlemen and delivers a greater value to farmers. Through its digital origination tool – Olam Direct – the company has been able to democratise price information and provide farmers with the insights they need to negotiate with intermediaries and buyers like Olam, and eventually decide when and to whom to sell their produce.

“Through supporting smallholders to establishing cooperatives, Olam improves their negotiation power with buyers as well as providing agricultural training through skills development, which helps farmers get the best quality and yield,” Sarkar adds.

“Across many of our smallholder farmer sustainability programmes, we pay – often in partnerships with customers – additional value to the farmer in the form of certifications and quality premiums, incentivising good quality and sustainable practices.”

A LEAP OF FAITH

Sarkar is a chartered accountant with around 20 years of experience in the

“RESEARCH SHOWS THAT WHILE FOOD PRODUCTION

HAS INCREASED GLOBALLY BY 145 PERCENT OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, FOOD PRODUCTION IN AFRICA HAS FALLEN BY 10 PERCENT SINCE 1960”