Kennemer Foods International

Context

In the Philippines, approximately 12 million people work in the agricultural sector, where the poverty incidence rate is estimated to be 36.7%. The average wage earned by an agricultural worker is approximately USD 3.50/day, or USD 840/year. Most farmers are unable to access high-quality farm inputs and/or training on best practices to improve productivity, thus leading to low annual yields, and a perpetual cycle of indebtedness and poverty.

Solution

• KFI delivers an end-to-end solution for improving cacao farmers’ livelihoods: providing them with high-quality planting material, farm inputs, financing for such up-front investments, and ultimately, access to selling into the global commodities markets.
• KFI’s team of field technicians provide continuous training and on-the-ground technical support through the lifecycle of the cacao tree. Finally, KFI purchases cacao from farmers at min. 70% of the world price.

Impact depth

By 2020, KFI targets to improve 35’000 farmers’ livelihoods, financial and climate resilience by integrating them into its cacao production value chain.

KFI contributes to:

• Increased household incomes: Smallholder famers increase their household income four times.
• Increased resilience: Farmers lower the risk of financial/climate shocks due to higher income, ability to save money and the fact that cacao trees are more resilient against typhoons.
• Improved farming knowledge: Farmers improve their farming practices. Among other benefits, they are able to reduce the need for pesticides, which has both economic as well as environmental benefits.