10,000 Cocoa Farmers Receive Cargill’s Premium Payments For The First Time

Cargill and over 10,000 Ghanaian cocoa farmers are celebrating as the company made its first ever sustainable premium payment by electronic transfer through its Licensed Buying Company (LBC).

The payment of GHS2 million was announced at a ceremony in Accra, attended by Nana Kwadwo Twum II - Acting President, Sefwi Bekwai Traditional Area & Chief of Sefwi Humjibre (Guest of Honour); Dr Opoku - Executive Director, CHED and Clara Arthur - General Manager, Projects & Business Development, GhIPSS, where a symbolic cheque representing the payment was presented to participating farmers.

Cargill’s LBC, which began operating in November 2016, allows the company to directly source cocoa from certified farmers in Ghana putting the farmer at the heart of its business.
The buying process is fully e-money enabled, allowing Cargill to pay farmers directly by electronic transfer for the first time.

The LBC is part of Cargill’s Cocoa Promise, the company’s commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers and communities that will secure a thriving cocoa sector for generations to come.

Cargill already sources directly from farmers and farmer organizations in other origin countries. Moving to this model in Ghana means that the company is now better positioned to implement sustainability activities under the Cargill Cocoa Promise on a wider scale, while also better serving its customers.

Lionel Soulard, Managing Director, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate West Africa said, “Our first electronic premium payment in Ghana since Cargill’s LBC was established is good news for farmers. Our new approach, combining new high-tech purchasing with the LBC model of direct sourcing and collaboration with farmers, is working well and we hope to make many more such payments in the future.”

Cargill’s innovative purchasing model uses the latest technology to implement the principles of sustainability and full traceability in Ghana.
Farmers deliver their cocoa to community warehouses where their beans are digitally weighed and assigned a fully traceable bar code.
Funds are then transferred straight to the farmer’s phone or e-wallet using E-money through partnerships with E-Zwich, MTN mobile Money and Tigo Cash.

Details of the cocoa beans are recorded in a standardized management system before they are transferred to central warehouses.
Through this bar code system Cargill can now, for the first time in Ghana, trace each individual bag of beans sourced through the Cargill LBC to the individual farmer, creating a fully traceable supply chain.

Soulard said, “Having long standing relations with cocoa farmers and their communities is critical for the full implementation of our sustainability approach and we are now expanding our sustainability activities to enable farming communities to benefit from training, community and farm development support.”