Swisscontact Consortium and Millennium Challenge Account – Indonesia (MCA‐Indonesia) announced a partnership called Green Prosperity – Sustainable Cocoa Production Program (GP‐SCPP) with the overall goal to reduce poverty and greenhouse gas emissions in the Indonesian cocoa sector.
Signed on 31 March 2015 in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, the partnership combines equal investment from the consortium and MCA‐I and will bring US$15 million to the cocoa sector in Indonesia.
The consortium, led by Swisscontact, includes Veco Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT Bank Pembangunan Daerah NTT, Rabobank, World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), seven private sector companies’ member of WCF namely Barry Callebaut, BT Cocoa, Cargill, Guittard, Mars, Mondelēz International and Nestlé.
GP‐SCPP is implemented from April 1, 2015 to March 30, 2018.
“This agreement will enable farmers to increase their productivity, and thus their income, and improve household livelihoods, a common goal for both the cocoa industry and the Green Prosperity Project,” said Swisscontact Country Director Indonesia and consortium leader, Manfred Borer, during the launch of the program at Nestlé’s Demo farm in Mamuju on March 31, 2015.
“The program also strengthens commercial relationships between service providers, input suppliers, cocoa smallholder farmers, and cocoa supply chain.”
GP‐SCPP will strengthen skills and knowledge of 2,000 farmer groups ‐ consisting of 58,000 cocoa farmers benefitting also women and vulnerable groups ‐ in environmentally friendly cocoa farming, improved nutrition practices, and application of prudent financial practices.
Moreover, the program also works with national and local Governments, the Cocoa Sustainability Partnership, and regional cocoa forums to ensure strategic alignment and promoting knowledge management in the sector.
“The signing of this agreement not only benefits the farmers who grow cocoa and the companies that purchase it, but it stands as a symbol of the strong relationship between the US and Indonesia,” said Dana J. Hyde, CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) who witnessed the signing of the agreement.
Aligned with government programs, GP‐SCPP is implemented in the heart of cocoa production in Indonesia and spreads across 14 districts in South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara Provinces.
The program promotes inclusive business models embracing all stakeholders along the cocoa value chain.
The ultimate purpose is to establish a self‐sustaining model where participating farmers will increase their cocoa revenues and companies that integrate services into their business model.
The Green Prosperity Project is funded by MCC, a US donor agency.
MCC’s Indonesia compact represents a major pillar of the United States‐Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, and its goal is to reduce poverty through economic growth.
MCA‐Indonesia is the entity entrusted to implement the MCC’s five‐year (2013‐2018) US$600 million compact.
