CAST STUDY: IVORY COAST

In rural Ivory Coast, the Sustainable Cashew Growers Programme (SCGP) links Olam directly with the farmers that supply the company. Sarkar explains: “We are the only company participating in the entire value chain and in doing so, can gain insight into and respond to the social challenges faced by farmers and their communities. “As part of Olam’s commitment through AtSource

Plus, we carried out a comprehensive food security and nutrition study and surveyed 797 households in the SCGP to find out what kind of food they typically eat, how often they eat it, and where it comes from. The study found about 93 percent of households in the SCGP are food secure, meaning that, even during the lowresource months of the year, they can regularly access foods that give them adequate calories. “But while these households are accessing enough calories, their diets are not very diverse. When it comes to women’s and children’s nutrition, the results were less promising. About 27 percent of women of childbearing age (15-49 years old) and only six percent of children aged six to 23 months are eating what they need to. Without adequate nutrients, women and children will not experience proper growth and development and are vulnerable to life-long consequences to health and productivity, which will affect future generations too. “Key risks that may cause the food security situation to change were also identified. For instance, farmers primarily rely on their cashew earnings to access and afford enough food which increases their vulnerability to fluctuations in the cashew market. Insufficient food production is linked to several issues, including small portions of land being used to produce food. Within the last five years, 76 percent of households have converted land where they once grew food into cashew farms. “Based on the study results, our cashew business is now working to reduce risks and improve the situation. In their AtSource Plus action plan, there are specific strategies, such as providing food crop support, livelihood diversification and nutrition education, to mitigate the food security risks and improve nutrition.”

Sarkar points to an Olam survey conducted in July 2020 with around 2,400 smallholder farmers growing cocoa, coffee, sesame, cotton, and other crops in Africa and Indonesia. The results showed that more than half are expecting to suffer shortages in basic food and nutrition due to movement restrictions, food price increases and insufficient stocks at home. Seven in 10 said their incomes had been reduced.

“The economic impact of COVID-19 has elevated the importance of food security and nutrition on our agenda,” Sarkar adds.

“We must avoid triggering any vicious cycle of reduced incomes, reduced consumption of nutritious foods, increased malnutrition, increased susceptibility to illness, or the continued spread of COVID-19 and its consequences. Olam recognises the key role it must play, especially in food supply chains like rice and grains, ensuring these staples continue to efficiently reach intended markets.

Smallholder farmers are expecting to suffer shortages in basic food and nutrition

“Olam’s global teams are on the frontline supporting farmers and those in the communities where we operate. We are working with our partners and government authorities to support the global fight against COVID-19 and have committed over US$5.7 million in financial and in-kind donations for relief and essential healthcare for farmers and rural communities.”

Such funding has supported numerous programmes.

These include national public awareness campaigns and distributing World Health Organization advice via digital channels. In the Republic of Gabon, Olam built a quarantine hospital, while it has also distributed medical equipment and PPE such as ventilators, masks, gloves, and hazmat suits for health authorities and hospitals across the region.

It is distributing food packages to local authorities, frontline workers and rural communities, including 50 tonnes of grains in Gabon, six tonnes of rice to healthcare workers and their families in

Cameroon, 30 tonnes of rice in Burkina Faso and two months’ supply of essential food items for an orphanage and children’s hospital in Senegal.

“We are also providing access to inputs and equipment such as seeds, fertiliser and tractors so that farmers’ liquidity challenges now do not jeopardise their ability to prepare and plant on time, helping to secure their livelihoods,” Sarkar says.

And securing livelihoods is what Olam will strive to achieve across all of its markets as it looks ahead to 2021.

It will be the second year of a newly structured Olam International, the company now operating as

Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) and Olam Global Agri (OGA) in order to capitalise on key global consumer food trends and the growth in demand for food, feed and fibre in fast-growing emerging markets.

The move should help it to more effectively serve its purpose – to global agriculture and food systems around the world.