Three key objectives of the MoU are to support sustainable food production at a range of scales towards climate adaptation while protecting and preserving soil health, biodiversity, and water resources; to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and providing them with access to key services and inclusive opportunities; and establishing sustainability and traceability across agriculture supply chains. This is aligned with Olam Agri’s purpose to transform food and agriculture for a more sustainable and food-secure future.

For joint projects, GIZ and Olam Agri have identified six priority intervention areas: nutrition-sensitive regenerative agriculture; harvest and post-harvest loss reduction; access to finance for smallholders; economic inclusion and rights; management of crop residues and reuse; and ecosystem services, including protection and restoration of ecosystems and carbon initiatives. Both partners will continue to identify topics relevant across value chains and regions to drive innovation and scaling, with possible cross-sectoral issues including climate and carbon credits, landscape-scale approaches, and digitisation.

Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder & Group CEO of Olam Agri, said: “We’ve shared a strong and fruitful relationship with GIZ over the years during which we’ve made significant inroads in transforming smallholder farming in several supply chains across many geographies to be more productive, profitable, and sustainable. I am thrilled to be signing this MoU with such a valuable partner that is GIZ and commit to collaborate even further to scale up our sustainability programmes in developing and emerging agriculture economies.”

Anna Sophie Herken, Managing Director at GIZ said: “The signing of this MoU with Olam Agri marks a pivotal step forward in our collaborative efforts towards sustainable food production. I am very happy and grateful that we can deepen and broaden our cooperation efforts simultaneously. We look forward to enhancing the scope and impact of our successful projects in climate-smart farming.”

The MoU builds upon years of successful cooperation between the two organisations since 2008. Starting in Africa, the partnership has expanded through several key initiatives. In the rice supply chain, for example, the progress the partnership has made with the founding of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) in 2011 has led to positive transformation of the sector by advancing sustainable rice cultivation. Through climate-smart methods and technologies, sustainable rice cultivation reduces usage of water and fertilisers, and consequently significantly reduces the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Under the joint efforts of GIZ and Olam Agri, the Market Oriented Smallholder Value Chain (MSVC) rice project in Southeast Asia has improved the livelihoods of more than 28,000 smallholder farmers and their families in four years, raising their incomes by 20 per cent while reducing their ecological impact. GIZ and Olam Agri continue to engage smallholder rice farmers in Southeast Asia in large scale projects and currently also cooperate in a regional sustainable cotton project in Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, and Chad, and in sustainable natural rubber in Côte d'Ivoire and Indonesia.