A long country in South-eastern Africa, Malawi is bordered by Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. It hosts Africa’s third largest lake, Lake Malawi, and offers its visitors a wide range of National parks, several wildlife parks and high mountain plateus throughout its territory.

With 85% of its population living in rural areas, the country’s economy mainly depends on agriculture. And the rural communities mostly uses wood and crop residue as a cooking fuel to feed their families. In the past decades, the Government of Malawi has set an ambitous strategy to phase out open fires. This transition has successfully generated the creation of production groups, essentially led by women, who were specifically trained to build high-quality efficient stoves.

The project

In 2020, Livelihoods launched 10-year initiative to distribute clean stoves to 60,000 households in the districts of Zomba and Machinga, in the southern region. The project is implemented together with United Purpose, one of Malawi’s largest NGOs which has more than 30 years of experience supporting rural communities across various areas such as sustainable energy, agriculture, nutrition, or climate change-related issues.

In this part of the country which is one of the most populated ones, the project is implementing the distribution of “Chitetezo Mbaula” stove which means “protecting stove”. The distribution model is adapted to the local context. To date, 30,000 clean stoves have already been distributed for free to low-income families, thanks to the tremendous support of women groups and our partner NGO who are reaching out to he most isolated households. 25,000 additional stoves have been commercialised at production cost and with incentives. Each family who purchases a clean stove receives 1 kilo of pigeon peas in exchange. Pigeon peas is a nutritious & fast-gowing food crop which generates food and income for rural families, and is therefore highly valued, especially during the dry season.

The project also relies on a strong collective approach and existing community spirit. All families purchasing a clean stove will benefit from the reparation of the village boreholes, during the whole duration of the project. In total, the project aims to avoid the emission of more than 1 million tCO₂ over 10 years.

Social, economic & environmental impacts

Women beneficiaries involved in the project have already expressed that the stoves are very efficient, and they use significantly less wood. Their families depend on the stoves exclusively, so if it breaks, they rapidly need to replace it by a new one. They also shared that the stove helps preserve their children’s health (versus openfire stoves) and their own. They appreciate the fact that the stoves are portable, which means they can cook inside but also outside their homes with their neighbours.

In terms of environmental benefits, the transition to clean stoves is helping reduce wood consumption by up to 60%. The project is relying on the existing clean stove-production groups and is generating additional 270 jobs for the distribution of stoves in the villages of Zomba and Machinga. Project activities involve a strong network of village chiefs, retailers, distributors and other NGOs to ensure the commercialisation of the stoves. Women play a key role for the manufacturing of the stoves, but also to distribute and raise awareness about the health benefits of clean stoves across rural communities.

Our partner

United Purpose is an experienced and international NGO whose focus is to implement a holistic approach based on the strength of communities, to positively impact peoples’ lives. The NGO began working in Malawi in 1988, with the initial mission to support refugees in the content of the Mozambican civil war. Today, it is one of Malawi’s largest NGOs, with close to 200 local employees who working across 17 districts in the country. United Purpose supports rural communities in areas such as sustainable energy, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), agriculture, nutrition, food and income, and climate change-related issues.

Learn more about United Purpose

Bordered by China in the North and by India on the rest of its territory, Nepal has fascinated many travellers for its natural beauty and diverse landscapes. With its fertile plains and subalpine forested hills, Nepal is also the country of eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest.

Over the past 20 years, the local Government has put in tremendous efforts to provide its population with improved health, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. But household air pollution remains the third major cause of early mortality across the country. In Nepal, 70% of the population cook on inefficient stoves using firewood, cattle dung, and agricultural waste. Inefficient cooking comes with heavy workload for women in rural areas who take care both of their land and families.

The project

To support the local Government’s strategy to transition a majority of rural families to efficient cooking, Livelihoods launched in 2022 a 10-year initiative to equip 75,000 rural families in the provinces of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim, in the North-Western region. The project is implemented together with Practical Action, an experienced and international NGO which supports rural communities across various areas such as clean energy, water, waste, and sanitation, climate, sustainable agriculture, market systems and gender issues. In Nepal, Practical Action has set providing rural communities with access to clean energy as a priority mission.

Together with Practical Action, Livelihoods will focus on three key activities to reach 75,000 rural families equipped with a clean stove. The project will raise awareness about the health and environmental benefits of clean  cooking amongst households. It will structure a reliable network of partners for the promotion and distribution of clean stoves to the most isolated families. From a financial perspective, the project will help bring access to small credits to help them purchase a stove at 50% its price. Each beneficiary household will be accompanied over 10 years to measure the stoves efficiency, evaluate whether their use is adapted to the local needs and make sure they are reliable in the long run.

The social, environmental & economic impacts

In Nepal, 90% of the rural population is cooking indoors[1]. Accelerating the transition to clean stoves will significantly improve the health conditions of the beneficiary families, as significantly fewer toxic smokes will be emitted. The model of the stove distributed within the project is a Tier-1, meaning it will bring 30 to 40% thermal efficiency. The clean stoves will also help reduce deforestation by up to 60% and the project will help save 1.7 million tons of CO₂ over 10 years. Manufactured by local partners, the project will boost job opportunities and generate more than 450 direct and indirect jobs, for the promotion and distribution of 75,000 clean stoves in rural areas.

The project will also rely on an existing and powerful collective approach in the villages to achieve cookstoves distribution. On the forest level, community groups are in place, with representatives from all village households. With a common mission to contribute to manage the country’s forests, these communities have put it tremendous effort and helped decelerate deforestation in Nepal: the country’s forest coverage reaches 45% today versus 25% before. The project will rely on existing women’s and mothers’ groups at village level, who have the essential role of distributing health services (e.g., birth control pills, iron supplements…) and raising awareness about community health.

Our partner

Practical Action benefits from more than 40 years of experience working hand in hand with rural communities. It is an international NGO which has been operating in Nepal since 1979. With 70% of the local population still depending on inefficient cooking solutions to feed their families, Practical Action has set access to clean rural energy as a top priority. The NGO has developed a robust market-based approach to distribute efficient stoves in rural areas at large scale, by strengthening its network of manufacturers, financial institutions, local distributors… to reach the most isolated families.

Learn more about Practical Action

[1] Source : World Bank

As the leading agricultural region in France and the third largest in Europe, Brittany has put agroecology at the heart of its economic, social and environmental strategy. About 20 years ago, a handful of farmers in the Finistère department, motivated to restore the health of the soil, embarked on a new approach: regenerative agriculture. Also called conservation agriculture because its main objective is to conserve the organic properties of the soil, regenerative agriculture is an agroecological production model that places soil restoration at the heart of the system. It is based on agricultural practices whose primary objective is to regenerate the soil, in other words to increase its organic content to improve its fertility.

This approach, still marginal in France, is nevertheless growing: it is estimated that 4% of French farmers practice regenerative agriculture.

The project

The Livelihoods Carbon Fund (LCF2) is investing in its first project in Europe: converting 11,000 hectares to regenerative agricultural practices in the Brittany region in France, which has been a pioneer in this approach. Conducted in partnership with the Brittany Region (territorial authority composed of the Regional Council of Brittany which decides of the political and agroeconomic orientations of the region), the Regional Chamber of Agriculture (public institution that accompanies the agroecological transition of the region through its network of agriculture professionals, engineers, technicians), and local association Sols d’Armorique, this project called “Sols de Bretagne” will support around a hundred farmers in their transition to regenerative agriculture. The project will also help sequester 140,000 tons of CO2 over 10 years.

The social, environmental and economic impacts

The project aims to generalize the benefits observed over the past 10 years by the pioneer farmers. Regenerative agriculture has helped to recreate biomass, make soils more fertile, and maintain yields. This model boosts the recreation of organic matter that enhances above and below soil biodiversity. Precise measurements have been carried out during several years by the Breton farmers engaged in regenerative agriculture. They have shown that the number of earthworms has more than doubled. The population of beneficial insects has increased fivefold. This organic richness in turn improves the water retention and filtration properties of the soil.

On the economic front, regenerative agriculture reduces production costs by abandoning plowing, simplifying tillage, and reducing inputs to a strict minimum. In this model, tractors that represent a costly investment and operational use are no longer necessary. The farms that have adopted this model have generally increased their margins. The results over several years show that yields are maintained at/or near the level of conventional agriculture. With lower production costs, the farmer can therefore increase his income at a constant market price.  

Moreover, in a profession where working days are often long, the regenerative agriculture model helps reduce the considerable time spent on the farm. This freed up time can be reinvested in the management of the farm and/or in a better work-life balance. The transition to regenerative agriculture thus creates more attractive working conditions, especially for the younger generations of farmers who aspire to a better life balance and a higher income.

Our Partners

The Brittany Region is a territorial authority composed of the Regional Council of Brittany (an assembly of 83 elected officials who decide on the major orientations of the regional policy) and the regional administration that applies these orientations at the territorial level. As the leading agricultural region in France and the third largest in Europe, the Brittany Region has placed the agroecological transition at the heart of its agricultural policy. Learn more about the agroecological transition of the Brittany Region.

The Chamber of Agriculture of Brittany is a public institution that accompanies the agroecological transition of the region. Present throughout Brittany, its missions are to anticipate economic developments, innovate, support farmers in adapting their businesses through training and advice, represent the interests of the agricultural sector and collaborate with all professional agricultural organizations. Learn more about the Regional Chamber of Agriculture and its actions in the field.

Sols d’Armorique association gathers a network of motivated Breton farmers who are passionate about regenerative agriculture and who are eager to get together to better understand soil dynamics and experiment with new practices. Convinced that there is a third way to reconcile soil health and better yields, the association focuses on the promotion of soil as a living and central heritage of the farmer. It covers a network of committed farmers, advisors, and technicians throughout the Brittany region.

In the vast northern Ghana, fourth largest shea kernel producing country in the world, shea is an economic opportunity for 470, 000 women farmers. But the challenges they need to face are many: in this poorest region of the country, scarce rainfall has led to poor land, unpredictable yields, and food insecurity. With little knowledge of the international shea market demands, women often trade low value shea kernels locally. Plus, shea being a seasonal work, the income they get often arrives too late to support them in their family and farming activities.

How to ensure a responsible supply of high-quality shea in a context of growing market demand? How to help the women of shea gain more from the kernels they harvest? How to boost other economic opportunities for them when shea is a seasonal activity?

The project

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (L3F) is taking up the challenge by launching a 10-year program that brings together a coalition of major players in the shea value chain: Mars Incorporated (a global business that produces some of the world’s most famous brands of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services) AAK (the world’s leading provider of value-adding plant-based oils and fats, and Mars’ supplier of shea), USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development and co-funder of the project), CARE (a global humanitarian organization working for the social and economic development of shea women collectors in Ghana and implementing partner for USAID), and local NGO Presbytarian Agricultural Services (PAS) which has been working closely with rural and farming communities in Ghana for 50 years.

The project, called “the Women in Shea Initiative” aims at building a responsible shea supply chain in East Gonja District, Northern Ghana, by providing 13,000 women farmers with sustainable income, diversified agricultural production and preservation of the shea natural ecosystem in a particularly arid area.

The social, environmental and economic impacts

The project, called the “Women in Shea initiative” will build upon AAK’s existing responsible sourcing program Kolo Nafaso (“the house of benefits of shea kernels”) which is supporting women to gain a fair price with no intermediaries. It will focus on the following activities:

Improve shea production efficiency and product quality to increase income for women farmers:

First, provide the tools, trainings, and support necessary to help them increase the quantity of shea kernels they collect as well as their quality, to improve their income. For example, new transport means will help them carry more kernels during the collection process, save time and reduce the burden of carrying the kernels. Equipping the women with efficient cookstoves will help them reduce exposure to toxic smokes when they will need to parboil the kernels, as well as significant wood and water consumption. Simple tools and methods such as lifting the nut bags by using drying beds, will reduce the risks of moisture and therefore increase the shea kernels quality.

Support the women to identify, produce crops and create new sources of income to complement shea production:

Second, the Women in Shea Initiative will support the women’s farming activities during the dry season, to provide them with a diversified source of income. Trainings on sustainable agricultural practices that will help regenerate the soil in a particularly arid land will help them increase yields whereas providing them with seedlings (improved cereal seeds, inoculants, and tree seeds…), will help increase their food security and create sales opportunities in new markets.

Improve natural resource management and governance for sustainable shea parklands:

Parklands across Sahel-Savannah eco-zones are significantly threatened by invasive land use. Shea trees are frequently used for firewood and charcoal. However, without fallows for regeneration, the decline in shea trees is now a major threat to the parklands sustainability. The project will build a sustainable model for parkland management with 10 communities to demonstrate that parkland protection can be reconciliated with farming activities and improved livelihoods. Project activities include beekeeping, assisted natural regeneration, and increasing the density of trees in the parklands, moving from 18 to 50 trees per hectare to increase the quantities of kernels to harvest.

Improve access to financial products and services to help women grow their businesses:

The project activities also include organizing women into small groups of 25 to 30 to enhance their commitment to the program, facilitate knowledge sharing on shea activities but also on farming activities. These groups will help promote microfinance services thanks to which the women will access savings and small credits to help them boost their financial activities. This model will provide women with the means to cope with financial emergencies as well as re-create social dynamics.

A public & private coalition of actors joining forces

The “Women in Shea Initiative” relies on a partnership of major players, involved at every step of the value chain who share the common ambition to contribute to bring shea women out of poverty while answering the needs of a growing market demand:

The Livelihoods fund for Family Farming: a private investment vehicle designed to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers together with pioneering brands to help them transform their supply chains.

Mars Incorporated, a global business that produces some of the world’s most famous brands of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, business partner and investor in the Livelihoods fund for Family Farming has committed to purchase shea from the women farmers during the whole duration of the project.

Local NGO Presbytarian Agricultural Services (PAS), which has 50 years of experience working with rural communities including in shea, in Ghana, will play a key role in implementing the project and building a relationship of trust with women.

USAID: a public co-funding partner committed to support and bring vulnerable communities out of poverty. USAID will help women diversify their farming activities to increase their income.

USAID will work closely with CARE International, a global humanitarian organization who will implement the field project activities.

On the hilly slopes of Rwanda, East Africa, the livelihoods of rural communities are particularly fragile. Small country of 26 338km², Rwanda is facing strong demographic pressure (12.3 million people), which has affected natural ecosystems and agricultural land, further exacerbated by the effects of climate change. But for the past 15 years, the country has been leading its way towards environmental, social, and economic stability. By investing in a wide range of sectors, including science, technology, environmental protection, Rwanda aims at opening its own population to a new set of market opportunities. With 82% of its population living in rural areas and depending on agriculture for a living, the government has also set the target of scaling up agroforestry on arable land and aims to restore 2 millions hectares of its land by 2024.

The project

The Livelihoods Carbon Fund 2 invests in a large-scale agroforestry and fruit tree planting project in the districts of Rulindo (Northern Province) and Bugesera (Eastern Province of Rwanda). The project will plant 3.7 million trees and train close to 30, 000 farmers to sustainable agriculture. It will be implemented by the local NGO ARCOS (Albertine Rift Conservation Society) which benefits from a strong network of public and private actors and an excellent relationship with local communities. Highly involved at every step of the project, local authorities at village and district level will support several activities such as nurseries preparation, tree planting activities, and farmer cooperatives. The project will sequester more than 2.2 million tons of CO₂ over 20 years.

The social, environmental and economic impacts

The project will implement a high-scale agroforestry model by enrolling 30,000 farmers into tree planting and  train them to sustainable agriculture to help restore land, improve soil fertility and develop new sources of income. It will focus on increasing crop yield and food production by improving soil fertility and controlling soil erosion. The project willprovide 300,000 fruit tree saplings (mainly mango and avocado trees), for household consumption but also marketing purposes. The farmers involved in the project will also be provided with seedlings of high-value trees for timber production and firewood which they can use to warm their houses or sell the surplus production to local markets.

Connecting the farmers to local market opportunities for vegetable and fruit production is one of the key priorities of the project, for generating new sources of income. As part of  their training, they will be provided with a kit of mixed vegetable seeds, for their own consumption but also for selling to local markets. The farmers will regroup into cooperatives to facilitate access to these markets: ARCOS will play a key role to establish wholesale platforms thanks to its strong connection with local authorities.

The farmers involved in the project will be trained to maintain organic matter in the soil, reduce its erosion and increase its fertility, which in turn will preserve water resources. These practices include digging trenches that help recharge underground water and maintain a supply of water for crops while protecting the down slope soil from erosion. Planting grass strips on terraces along contours to reduce the amount of water flowing down the slopes will also help conserve arable land. These grasses will in turn serve as fodder for farmers’ livestock. Eventually, digging of tied ridges that can help interrupt or block the furrows in dry soils areas will also prevent the water from flowing along the furrows, help conserve soil moisture and prevent water erosion.

Our partners

Among the five varieties of silk that are produced in India: mulberry, eri, muga, Tasar, oakTasar silk, Tasar silk is a wild silk; its production starts with outdoor silkworm rearing. And it is an ancient tradition of Adivasi communities, who are considered as the indigenous population of India and whose livelihoods mostly depend on the land they cultivate, and the forests they live nearby.

Initiated in the 15^th century, the production of Tasar silk which reflects their strong connection with the forests. But until 30 years ago, Tasar silk rearing had become an unreliable source of income as natural diseases and rudimentary methods led to uncertain yields.

The project

With the plantation  of 3, 000 hectares of Tasar silk trees in privately owned wastelands in the villages, Livelihoods-Arjuna project will generate income for 4, 000 rural households represented by women. The project also involves biodiversity preservation in 3, 600 additional forest hectares and will support 1, 200 households undertake silkworm rearing in host trees. Downstream, the project will create more than 5, 000 rural jobs for Adivasi inhabitants who will be involved at every step of Tasar silk value chain. Overall, the project will store 1.4 million tons of CO2 over 20 years, providing carbon offsets with strong environmental, economic, and social benefits to Livelihoods investors and partner companies. It will also contribute to restore soil health and preserve water resources.

The project will be implemented by the reputed Indian NGO PRADAN  which has been working committedly in the poorest regions of India, for more than three decades, to help vulnerable communities, especially women, earn a decent living and support their families. The NGO has put in  place a robust economic model to generate income for Adivasis farmers, at every step of the silk value chain.

The social, environmental and economic impacts

Tasar silkworms are the backbone and the first step of Tasar sericulture. They eat leaves of two different species: Terminalia arjuna & Terminalia tomentosa, which help them grow and turn from a tiny silkworm to a beautiful green caterpillar.

The Livelihoods Carbon Fund is financing the plantation of 3, 000 hectares of Terminalia arjuna & Terminalia tomentosa host trees, in wastelands that had previously been depleted. These wastelands belong to 4, 000 households represented by women. Both types of trees are fast-growing, local to the project area and will be ready for silkworm rearing in 3 years from now. Adivasi communities will be mobilized into groups to set up the planting activities and tree maintenance, as they grow. These communities will be involved and empowered with scientific and technical skills to evaluate the right distance from one tree to another, to help the cocoons grow correctly and ensure their good productivity.

The project will also support 1,200 households to undertake silkworm rearing in 3,600 additional hectares of forests. This part of the project will be ensured by village communities: in compliance with community norms in the villages, the project will therefore protect biodiversity in 3, 600 hectares, by ensuring the diversity of tree species. 1, 200 households as well as the corresponding village committees will be trained in biodiversity conservation.

Learn more about the project activities

Our partners

Aguascalientes City, located in the center of Mexico, is home to nearly 1 million inhabitants and one of the fastest-growing cities of Mexico. Aguascalientes, named after the numerous hot springs in the area, has an economic growth above the national average and a low unemployment rate at 3,5% thanks to its central location and good access to the country’s markets. The city hosts the facilities of many companies (textile, cars…) which create thousands of jobs. Yet, the city’s main aquifer, which supplies 100% of its needs, is located in the driest part of the region. It has been facing an annual deficit of 280 million m3 per year, which is equivalent to the domestic consumption of more than 2 million Mexicans[1]. Agriculture accounts for 70% of the extracted volumes, urban public use for 25%, industry for less than 3% and households for less than 3%.

The project

Veolia, which has a long-term concession to manage both the municipal water drinking water and wastewater collection systems of the city, and Danone, which has a bottling factory for its Bonafont water brand in Aguascalientes are also investors in the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming. Through the fund, they have joined forces with Mexican public organizations- namely, SEDRAE (the Agricultural Authority of the Sate of Aguascalientes) and FIRA (the Mexican agency for Rural Development)- to tackle the aquifer’s deficit by mutualizing their means and resources. Public organizations have indeed launched many initiatives to support farmers, but their work is was constrained by the 1-year duration of the public schemes. In this way, they can leverage the 6-year programme initiated by Livelihoods Funds to build a long-term relationship with farmers and achieve a bigger impact. Likewise, Veolia and Danone have the opportunity to go beyond their operations perimeter with this partnership to act more widely on the sustainability of the aquifer.

In Aguascalientes, Livelihoods Funds have designed a project to enable vulnerable farmers to invest in drip irrigation equipment and improve the resilience of their farms. It will be implemented in the field and monitored by Kaab, a social enterprise bringing together field-rooted experts in agriculture in Aguascalientes. Currently, farmers irrigate their fields through flooding, which is one of the least efficient irrigation systems leading to 50% evaporation or run-off. The project connects farmers with public authorities which provide them with the necessary information and financing to get access to drip irrigation which halves water consumption. Afterwards, they get a 30-month training to ensure they can make the best of the social, economic and environmental value of the system. The programme includes classroom and in-field training to manage the soil’s fertility through conservation agriculture with an on-farm visit from a project coordinator each week during the first year. They will also be trained on the management of their farm: accounting, investments to increase their revenues on the long-term, etc. Furthermore, the project sensitizes farmers on the relevance of engaging in crops that consume less water and the importance of diversification to improve the resilience of their farm.

The social, environmental and economic impact

This Livelihoods Funds project in Aguascalientes will involve, in a first phase, 250 farms with a total of 2,500 ha under sustainable water and land management.  With 250 farms, the project aims at saving over 9 million m3 of water per year. The project can be scaled up to reach a greater number of farmers: for each group of 1,000 farmers joining the project, 36 million m3 of water can be saved, accounting for 13% of the annual aquifer deficit. By reaching the 5,000 farmers directly located in the water catchment zone, 65% of the annual aquifer’s deficit could be managed. Discussions are currently under way with other public players, industrial users and NGOs to scale up the project through a water fund- an operational model enabling water users to jointly invest in upstream land conservation in order to secure water supply and quality through a sustainable management of the project.

[1] 380 liters consumed daily per inhabitant. Source: agua.org.mx

Our Partners

• Danone
• Veolia
• SEDRAE
• FIRA
• Kaab

The coconut market is booming. The global coconut water segment, for example, increased by 150% in volume between 2013 and 2018. Yet, in the Philippines, the second coconut producer in the world, the supply chain is declining. Ageing Filipino coco farmers are the poorest in their country, with around 50% living with less than USD 2 per day. Some young farmers managed to set up new types of activities from coconuts and build themselves a brighter future. But a clear majority lack technical support, access to market and financing.

In Mindanao, coconut farmers are mostly aged between 40 to 60 years old, in a region where 70% of the population is under 35. Farmers have an average of 2 ha with around 200 trees. This planting density therefore leaves large spaces which are generally underutilized.
Although coconut accounts for 70% of the people’s income in the project zone, ageing farmers do not see it as a business but as a side activity. Farms are not adequately managed and, as a matter of fact, coconut yields in the Philippines are 2 to 3 times lower than in Brazil or in India. With no appropriate training, Filipino coconut farmers are not able to optimize their production to make a decent living and invest in coconut replanting, maintaining them in a poverty trap.

The project

How to improve coconut farmers’ livelihood and promote youth engagement in agriculture while providing industrial users with fully traceable coconuts?

To contribute to solving this equation, the Livelihoods Fund is investing in a 10-year project mobilizing stakeholders of the coconut value chain in Mindanao, Philippines’ second largest island: 5,000 motivated smallholder farmers; the Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF), an experienced Filipino NGO; Franklin Baker, a leading manufacturer and exporter of coconut products; Mars, Inc a global business that produces some of the world’s most famous brands and which namely uses coconut for its Bounty® bars.

The social, environmental and economic impact

The Livelihoods-Coconut project will empower farmers with sustainable practices to better manage their farms and increase their yields. IRDF will train them on simple yet efficient practices to enhance productivity: trimming old leaves, cleaning crowns and around the bottom of the palm, composting… Alongside, around 30% of senile coconut trees per farm will be replaced by high-yielding ones. Each new tree will be able to produce around 100 nuts per year after only 3 to 4 years. As a starter pack, farmers will be provided with free seeds which will be germinated and matured in community nurseries created within the project.

To diversify farmers’ sources of income and make them more resilient to changes in the coconut market, the project will promote intercropping, i.e., growing different crops at the same time in the same space. Farmers will organize their plots as a multi-story system where space and sunlight will be fully optimized. Smaller trees like cocoa, coffee or banana will be planted in the shade of the coconut trees. Ground-level will be used for food and cash crops like sweet potatoes, vegetables, ginger or corn. Women will also be trained to manage the new crops and market them locally.
The project will focus on farmers’ working conditions during harvesting. They will be sensitized on safety measures and provided with security gear (harvesting sticks, sickles, helmets, harness and body-protection for dehusking).
In the end, better farm management combined to replanting and intercropping is expected to double farmers’ yields and transition around 10,000 ha to sustainable agriculture, with a positive impact on the soil’s fertility and its capacity to retain water and sequester CO2.

The project will implement a direct sourcing scheme: the 5,000 smallholders will sell their crop directly to Franklin Baker through farmer-owned cooperatives. The cooperatives will rely on networks of village-level farmers’ association to collect the coconut and bulk it through a unique collection point to Franklin Baker, which in turn will sell the processed coconut to Mars. In this way, Mars and Franklin Baker will have access to a fully transparent coconut supply chain up to farm level, in a cost-efficient manner. A transparent price mechanism will be defined to give more visibility to farmers and Franklin Baker and thus ensure the long-term stability of the supply chain. By selling their coconuts directly to Franklin Baker, farmers will retain a bigger share of the product’s market value.
Mars and Franklin Baker are committed to buying the coconut from this project for the next 10 years. This engagement is a key success factor for building trust between the farmers and the companies and gives the project enough time to generate lasting effects. Thanks to more productive coconut farms and their stable connection to Franklin Baker’s supply chain, farmers in the project will be able to double their revenues.

The project will also encourage young people and women to become social entrepreneurs, for example by setting-up small-scale transformation units of coco-coir and coco-peat (the coir’s dust) valorized from the currently unused coconut husks. Coir is a widely used renewable raw material for making twines, nets, mats for horticulture, protective covers for soils and slopes. The project will support the creation of at least three coco-coir processing units and will provide young people with suitable trainings. In this way, the project aims at empowering around 1,000 young people and women through small enterprises. Discussion on funding is also underway with local government bodies to raise these figures and enable transformation of additional agricultural products like coffee, cocoa or banana.
Young people will also be trained on agricultural techniques to become service providers for farmers: harvesting, maintenance of plots, management of nurseries. The objective is to give them the necessary skills and knowledge to also take over their family farm once their parents retire.

Our Partners

• The Intergrated Rural Development Foundation
• The Franklin Baker Company
• Mars

In 2050, more than 65% of the world population will live in cities. Yet, cities depend on their rural landscapes for food and water. At the same time, rural agriculture needs urban demand to prosper. This is a fragile balance. Rio de Janeiro is one the world’s largest megacities with over 12 million inhabitants. The mountain ridge of Tinguá, at around 60 km upstream of Rio de Janeiro, is one of its key water catchments. Nevertheless, people living in this rural area are among the poorest of Rio de Janeiro, with little to no know-how in agriculture. They are slowly abandoning farming to find a job in the city. Idle rural land in the proximity of a sprawling city makes the area at risk of mass tourism, real estate programmes and industrial activities which could exert pressure on water resources in Tinguá on the long run.

The project

The project is supported by Bonafont, a Danone brand which operates a mineral water factory in Tinguá (60 km from Rio), and the Sebrae (the Brazilian SMEs development agency). It will enable smallholder farmers located in Tinguá, one of the key water catchments of Rio, to adopt a 100% chemical-free agriculture to preserve the watershed.

Around 250 family farms will receive an agroecology initiation kit designed by SEBRAE and already adopted by other farmers across Brazil. This kit consists of equipment for a plot of 5,000 m2, including seeds, irrigation pipes, chicken coops, chickens, and a water tank with a solar powered pump. It will boost chemical-free productivity thanks to drip irrigation, optimized working conditions and synergies between plants and poultry. Moreover, farmers will receive 30 months of training in sustainable agricultural practices, farm management and sales to help them become professional organic farmers. Farmers will learn how to connect to local markets, restaurants and supermarkets in Rio to ensure stable revenues over time. The project will also create a solidarity mechanism, allowing farmers who have benefited from the program to support training for others.

This project, with an investment of 1,3 million € by the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming, is built on an innovative model. The Livelihoods Fund co-designed the project and bears the investment risk. Bonafont will pay a fee to the fund based on the number of hectares conserved, to ensure that the project has tangible results. SEBRAE co-invests in the project and implements it in the field. .

The social, environmental and economic impact

The project will foster the transition of the largest number of farms located around Bonafont’s factory to organic farming for the long-term preservation of water resources. This will result in the creation of the largest organic food production hub in Rio de Janeiro, where there is a rising demand for healthy food. Farmers’ revenues are expected to rise by up to 60%, matching or even outweighing a city job salary.

The project will therefore benefit all parties: improved revenues for farmers on the long run; the sustainability of Bonafont’s activity; healthy food and preserved water resources for the people in and around Rio.

Our Partners

• Bonafont
• Sebrae

Vanilla is a vital ingredient that is widely used in many industries, including food, cosmetics, and perfume. 80% of global vanilla production is concentrated in a small area in the North of Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. Over the past decade, vanilla farmers and industry leaders have been confronted with a difficult situation.

On the one hand, vanilla farmers are in a poverty trap – they lack efficient practices and finance to grow high quality vanilla, nor can they plan ahead to sell cured vanilla. As a result, the farmers get a low price for poor quality vanilla, reinforcing the poverty cycle. On the other hand, vanilla prices have been subject to massive theft and severe volatility due to a lack of cash flow pushing farmers into harvesting their vanilla too early, leading to poor quality in the market. Supply shortages of quality vanilla also cause speculation and increase the risk of theft from farmers. Moreover, extreme weather events, most recently cyclone Enawo in March 2017, can decimate the vanilla crop and add further stress to an already fragile system.

The project

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming, an impact investment fund created by Danone, Firmenich, Mars and Veolia to foster sustainability and poverty reduction in supply chains, is investing in a large-scale vanilla project with an innovative model where farmers and industry players share both benefits and risks. This project, with 3,000 family farms, aims to tackle not only quality and traceable vanilla production but also food security for farmers and biodiversity conservation. Prova, a supplier to Mars, is a partner in the project. It is implemented It has been implemented since 2017 by Fanamby, a Madagascan NGO with extensive experience working with vanilla producers, Missouri Botanical Garden, a biodiversity conservation NGO and Maisons Familiales Rurales, an educational association.

All partners in the Livelihoods-Vanilla project have committed to the project over a 10-year span. The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming and the French Development Agency bears the upfront financial risk by providing funding to the NGO for implementing the project and monitoring related to sustainable vanilla production and biodiversity conservation.

The social, environmental, and economic impacts

The project is located outside the Sava region where vanilla production is currently concentrated. The area has been selected as it offers lots of potential for vanilla production. The program aims to train farmers over five years on sustainable practices to increase vanilla productivity and quality through agroforestry techniques. A newly created farmer-owned cooperative, structured with Fanamby’s support, will seek to connect producers more directly to markets, and will collect the vanilla, cure[1] it and export it to the project partners.

Moreover, the project seeks to protect a unique tropical forest and a wealth of biodiversity thanks to the vanilla buffer zone  generating significant income disincentivize local communities to deforest, putting in place a community based governance gathering active members managing conservation activities and applied biodiversity protection laws, community patrol and planting native windbreakers and firewall tree species preventing natural disasters to affect the protected area.

It plans to offer farmers alternative economic opportunities, such as clove production and poultry farming, to preserve local forests from illegal logging and slash-and-burn practices.

[1] Once green vanilla beans have been harvested, they undergo a curing process, to become cured beans sold at market. Green vanilla beans are sorted and graded, cleaned, immersed in hot water and dried to reveal their aroma. About six months are required for these different steps and around 6-7 kilos of green vanilla are needed to get 1 kilo of cured vanilla. The quality of vanilla relies on the quality and maturity of green beans and the precision and rigor of the curing process.

Our Partners

• AFD
• FFEM
• Danone
• Mars Incorporated
• Firmenich
• Prova
• NGO Fanamby
• NGO Missouri Botanical Garden
• Association Maisons Familiales Rurales

Learn more: 

• https://www.livelihoods.eu/transforming-the-relationship-between-smallholder-famers-companies-an-example-with-the-livelihoods-vanilla-project/
• https://www.livelihoods.eu/press-release-livelihoods-fund-invests-in-vanilla-in-madagascar/
• https://www.livelihoods.eu/vanilla-from-field-to-market-patience-precision/ https://www.livelihoods.eu/an-ngo-a-private-company-share-their-views-on-the-livelihoods-vanilla-project-in-madagascar/