As part of GCARD 2010, Farming First hosted a session entitled ‘Better Benefiting the Poor through Public-Private Partnerships for Innovation and Action.’ Within the discussions, our panel of experts addressed several case studies that present different ways that partnerships have helped to empower smallholder farmers around the world.
Hans Joehr – Nestec
Nestle buys around $7 billion of agricultural commodities from emerging economies every year. This is around two-thirds of the company’s total expenditure on raw material – and nearly 40% goes towards three key commodities: milk, coffee and cocoa. Over half a million farmers (610,000) supply Nestle directly.
Each of the key regions from which Nestle sources its products has its own political, socio-economic and environmental conditions, but Nestle works to protect the security of its supply, the quality of the resources available, and rural employment and development.
In Pakistan, Nestle invests more than $180 million a year in milk procurement and $3 million on milk-sourcing operations, agricultural and technical support, and training for farmers. Nestle Pakistan contributes to a partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which is training 4000 women agricultural advisers. The project provides technical assistance and advice about animal health, breeding and fodder production to female dairy farmers in rural Pakistan them to raise the quality and value of the milk they supply, which in turn boosts the local economy.