Integrated Development Partnership with Olam Food Ingredients (OFI)
Working Together to Protect the Lore Lindu Biosphere Reserve Area of Indonesia
With an official launch on December 1, 2021 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Olam Food Ingredients (ofi) in an integrated Development Partnership (iDPP). The project aims to establish a sustainable, transparent, and deforestation-free cocoa supply chain near the Lore Lindu Biosphere Reserve and National Park in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The Reserve is characterized by one of the largest remaining mountainous rain forests of Sulawesi, featuring unique biodiversity and archaeological sites, making it of ecological and cultural importance. It is also home to a local population who rely on farming in the surrounding area for their livelihoods, but low yields and farm gate prices mean that growing cocoa alone is not always enough to earn a living income.
The project aims to balance the need for 4,000 farmers to provide for their families with protecting the natural landscape by promoting agroforestry, where cocoa is grown alongside native trees and fruits, helping to restore lost tree cover and allowing farmers to diversify and grow their incomes. In addition, the project will also develop a roadmap to close the living income gap, develop spatial planning for sustainable and integrated land use, increase market access through ofi’s digital platform, and build farmer’s organizational management capacity.
To ensure traceability and transparency, ofi will implement the Olam and Farmers Information System (OFIS), a digital tool that tracks cocoa back to the farm or community. It also collects key sustainability data to monitor and measure the success of the project, from GPS mapping that identifies any risk of deforestation and information on income levels to child labor monitoring and remediation. ofi will supplement this with on-the-ground training and support to help farmers get the most from their farm without impacting the environment.
Throughout the implementation of the project, ofi and GIZ will also collaborate with other players working in cacao in Lore Lindu area. This will include the Cocoa Sustainability Partnership (CSP) for conducting living income benchmark using Anker methodology.
Imam Suharto, Head of Cocoa Sustainability in Indonesia for ofi, said: “We’re excited to bring our 17 years of sustainability expertise in Indonesia together with GIZ to help safeguard this important landscape. By giving farmers the right tools and training, we can empower them to be good environmental stewards without compromising their ability to support their families.”
For more information, please contact:
Jonas Dallinger, Principal Advisor for SASCI+
jonas.dallinger@giz.de
(Note: these are products of local SMEs in Central Sulawesi, not a direct result of GIZ activities)
