From the farm to the boardroom- new blog series reveals lessons learned in agri-business
Today, Olam International has launched ‘Things we learned this year’; an end-of-year blog series that captures personal perspectives, challenges and learnings from the business over the past year.
Illustrated with photos and videos, the series explores a range of themes from the complex socio-economic realities of rural farming communities, to the art of public- private collaboration for tackling global issues.
Several accounts reveal unique insights into the lives, pressures and views of the smallholder farmers that Olam works with, such as the emotional barrier holding cocoa farmers back from correct pruning practices; the close connection between Indonesian coffee farmers, the forest and the safety of their communities; or the challenge of navigating gender norms in Ivorian cotton farming.
The final blog in the series meanwhile, takes a more holistic look at the agri- supply chain, with Olam CEO Sunny Verghese reflecting on the issues that have faced the sector over the last 10 years. In conversation with Joost Oorthuizen, CEO of the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), they discuss the art of collaboration; how public-private coalitions have found common approaches to tackling farmer poverty, working conditions and deforestation, and looking forward, how they need to help galvanise change to occur effectively at every level of the agri- supply chain- from individual to government.
Blogs in the series:
- The common ground between cocoa farmers in Ghana and a British ‘would-be’ gardener
- Re-imagining the gender balance for female cotton farmers
- How we can help smallholders sell to each other and not just to Olam
- How coffee can protect people
- Things we learned this year: 10 years back and 10 years forward - hopes and fears for agri-supply chains
