Nestle, AGRA partner to support 2,000 young agricultural entrepreneurs in West Africa

Company News from Monday, June 10, 2019

Source: Nestlé Ghana

2019-06-10

Nestlé West and Central Africa (CWA) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) today launched a new joint initiative called the Agripreneurship Development Program (http://www.agripreneurship.org/). Youth (YADIS) to catalyze the sustainable development of farmers' livelihoods and opportunities for young people in agriculture and agricultural production. agribusiness in Ghana, Côte d 'Ivoire and Nigeria.

The two-and-a-half year partnership to promote agricultural entrepreneurship among young Africans will benefit 2,000 young agro-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers, particularly women, in the three countries with training in good agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills to produce and supply superior products. corn, soy, rice, cbadava, cocoa and quality coffee

In Ghana, the program will be implemented with a Ghanaian agribusiness, Sahel Grains, which targets 300 young agribusiness entrepreneurs specializing in capacity building and mentoring, which will in turn serve an additional 49,500 farmers in the north of the country. Ghana. Focusing on the maize value chain, this program will increase the incomes of targeted young agribusinesses and farmers, 50% of whom will be women. Project interventions include the aggregation of inputs and outputs; training in improved techniques of production and post-harvest management accompanied by services such as mechanization services and crop insurance.

In pursuit of its goal of "improving the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future", Nestlé will provide technical support as part of its contribution to improve the quality of cereals and strengthen services to farmers. farmers to modernize the corn supply chain. The Company will also provide a reliable premium maize harvest by Sahel Grains. It is also committed to purchasing 1,500 tons of maize and 2,500 tons of cbadava from young agro-entrepreneurs who will supply products of acceptable quality.

Philomena Tan, CEO of Nestlé Ghana, who signed the letter of intent on behalf of the company, reiterated Nestlé's global ambition for 2030 to help improve 30 million livelihoods in communities directly. related to its commercial activities. "Over the years, Nestlé has demonstrated its commitment to contributing to the development of resilient and vibrant communities through the local sourcing of raw materials such as cocoa, coffee, cereals and cbadava. In 2018, more than 216,000 tons of raw materials, valued at 115 million USD, were purchased locally. This program will complement our efforts to foster strong partnerships along the maize value chain, which will contribute to improving food security and farm incomes, thereby enhancing rural development and livelihoods in Africa. " She says.

The program aims to transform agriculture into a job-creating sector to attract young people, with the average age of farmers over 50 and the rate of youth migration to cities continuing to skyrocket.

"AGRA is delighted with the new collaboration with Nestlé CWA," said Vanessa Adams, Vice President of Country Support and Delivery. "This partnership will empower a new generation of agripreneurs by developing the entrepreneurial skills of young people so that they can profitably engage in agricultural and off-farm activities that enable them to provide agricultural services to their families." last mile to smallholders in a commercially viable manner. Ultimately, the partnership will encourage, strengthen extension services, increase technology adoption, improve supply chain management, and encourage agricultural entrepreneurship and the use of structured markets. "

Ms. Adams added that AGRA's contribution to this initiative is part of the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) with the Ghana component funded by the United States Agency for International Development (UNAIDS). USAID). She added that the project would be implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Ghana, particularly in view of the annual Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) which will be held in Accra, Ghana, from 3 to 6 September 2019. on the Digitization of Agriculture.

Nestlé CWA, through its Global Youth Initiative – Nestlé needs YOUTH, will provide strategic in-kind investments, as well as the transfer of skills and knowledge on agricultural know-how, especially on crop quality and post-harvest losses. AGRA will build on its knowledge across the continent to support the design of activities and the development of technical best practice packages.

The partnership will specifically target 1,000 agro-entrepreneurs from Ghana and Nigeria who grow corn, soybean and cbadava. The remaining 1,000 will be young farmers who grow cocoa and / or coffee in combination with food crops in Ghana and Côte d 'Ivoire.

Project interventions will include input and output aggregation and training on improved production management and post-harvest management practices with services such as mechanization and crop insurance.