Cocoa beans

• Approximately 25,000 farmers across Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria will be trained and supported to convert their farms to agroforestry and implement crop residue management
• The aim is to plant over 2.8 million trees and cultivate more than 72,000 hectares of agroforestry as part of a transition to regenerative agriculture.
• It’s estimated to cut more than 1.5 million tons of CO₂ over the next 30 years from these activities

Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company and ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients and solutions, are launching their largest-ever joint cocoa agroforestry partnership to reduce carbon emissions and combat deforestation.

As the cocoa industry faces the dual challenges of rising demand and increased environmental pressures, Nestlé and ofi are stepping up their efforts to create a more sustainable future for cocoa production.

Spanning Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and Brazil, approximately 25,000 farmers will be supported in transitioning to climate-smart farming, over a 5-year period in each country by implementing agroforestry and crop residue management^[1]. These activities will be monitored until 2055, with ofi’s carbon footprinting experts estimating they can cut carbon emissions by 1.5 million tons of CO₂ over the next 30 years.  

The project aims to cultivate more than 72,000 hectares of agroforestry, as part of a transition to regenerative agriculture. This includes planting an estimated 2.8 million trees, which will be 3^rd party verified, from the nursery to the farm. The baselines for these activities have been established using ofi’s AI-powered Carbon Stock Monitoring tool and will be used continuously to track the geolocation of the trees and that they are growing to comply with the objectives set out by Nestlé and ofi.

The global partnership builds on 15 years of Nestlé and ofi collaborating on sustainable cocoa and is their largest joint agroforestry initiative to date. It is designed to support Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan and 2050 Net Zero targets while also contributing towards ofi’s Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition, which introduced new targets for regenerative agriculture.  These feed into ofi’s overarching sustainability strategy, Choices for Change, with a vision of being the preferred partner for positive change.

We look forward to meeting you in person at PLMA. Come and visit us at stand 1.J15, hall 1, where our private label experts will be happy to help you discover our market ready solutions in soluble coffee, nuts and spices. Book your appointment now via your ofi contact or email.

• A smartphone-based application being deployed by global food ingredients supplier ofi to tackle infant malnutrition has won the ‘Social Sustainability Project of the Year’ category at this year’s Edie awards, which celebrate sustainability leadership.

The Infant Malnutrition System Alert (IMSA) app was developed by ofi sustainability analyst Dr Stéphanie Konan PhD to address high-rates of infant malnutrition in Côte d’Ivoire, where one in five children experience stunted growth and development. It is the first digital health screening service in the country, powered by a geographic information system. By sending alerts to nearby or configured healthcare facilities of registered cases in real-time, IMSA digitized the malnutrition monitoring, enabling quicker treatment, facilitating follow-up, and providing the National Nutrition Program with insightful high level reports.

Since 2019, during the Journée d’Intensification des Activités de Nutrition (JIAN) in Côte d’Ivoire, ofi has been supporting the digitalization of malnutrition screening by using IMSA. This annual campaign is part of its existing nutrition and health programs in Côte d’Ivoire, where it sources cashew, cocoa, and coffee from over 185,000 farming families and via a vast network of local traders.

In 2024, working in partnership with Côte d’Ivoire’s National Nutrition Program, ofi teams and volunteers screened over 22,000 children in cashew communities in the Béoumi district. 370 moderate and acute cases of malnutrition were identified and referred to healthcare facilities. The app also allows ofi to track every case referred for treatment, allowing for 6-month follow-ups.

ofi’s field workers, together with its partners, and local community health workers, also delivered crucial interventions including deworming and Vitamin A tablets, and information on good nutrition – as studies show that infant malnutrition can be largely attributed to a lack of education and low literacy rates.

As well as the Edie award, IMSA and its contribution to national efforts to combat malnutrition was awarded the Prize for Research and Innovation by Côte d'Ivoire’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in 2023.

The developer of the app, ofi’s sustainability analyst Dr Stéphanie Konan PhD, said: “IMSA was born from a simple idea: that replacing the existing paper-based screening with a digital solution could enable earlier detection and treatment. From that simple idea, collaboration and partnership has built a successful program. ofi’s local teams, embedded in farming communities, have trained community health service agents and established partnerships with local health authorities to reach tens of thousands of farming families."

“What’s really exciting is the great potential IMSA offers for scaling up malnutrition screening and interventions across other regions and countries facing similar public health issues. These kinds of innovative ideas delivered at scale are central to delivering ofi’s long-term ambition to help farming communities thrive.”

Discover much more about what ofi has to offer at ofi.com