Olam Agri, headquartered in Singapore, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to enhance sustainability in the global agri-food sector. This collaboration will focus on staple agricultural supply chains, including rice, cotton, and rubber, across developing markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The partnership aims to achieve three primary objectives: promoting sustainable food production while conserving natural resources, improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, and establishing traceability and sustainability throughout supply chains. To accomplish these goals, Olam Agri and GIZ have identified six priority areas for intervention: nutrition-sensitive regenerative agriculture, reduction of harvest and post-harvest losses, facilitating smallholder access to finance, promoting economic inclusion and rights, managing crop residues, and enhancing ecosystem services.
Building on a 15-year collaboration that began in Africa, Olam Agri and GIZ have spearheaded initiatives such as the Sustainable Rice Platform, which has reduced water and fertilizer use while lowering methane emissions. Their Market-Oriented Smallholder Value Chain project in Southeast Asia has increased the incomes of over 28,000 smallholder farmers by 20% while reducing environmental impact.
The two organizations continue to expand sustainable agriculture initiatives, including cotton projects in Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Chad, and natural rubber programs in Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia.
(Sources: Singapore Business, Olam Agri news)
