Recognised for its high quality, demand for Nigerian ginger  keeps on rising. Despite being among the top 3 largest producers in the world, Nigeria still needs to leverage the full potential of ginger production as an income generating crop.

At Touton, based on our extensive experience in the trade of tropical commodities, we see even greater potential to develop a resilient supply system, that generates value for Nigerian farmers by promoting productivity and sustainable practices in ginger farming. In 2020, we partnered with IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, to build a traceable and sustainable ginger supply chain, starting with a group of 500 farmers in the Kaduna state.

Despite the complex environment created by the COVID-19, Touton, supported by technical consultants, implemented most of the initial activities, including training and distribution of protective equipment. Training on topics such a Good Agricultural Practices and Good Environmental Practices encourages farmers to increase yields and quality whilst conserving natural resources and minimizing environmental pollution as the basis for sustainable farming. We also covered topics around Good Social Practices which raises awareness of workers’ rights, as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) core convention.

Many learnings were made, which we intend to build upon in 2021, to keep the momentum and achieve Rainforest Alliance certification soon. Such certificate would help increase farmers‘ revenues and secure a sustainable ginger supply from Africa. 

                                                                 

Data collection is on!

Since March 2021, data collection from Ugandan coffee producers is on-going in the Rwenzori. Our team of young enumerators from the coffee communities are now interviewing farmers with both quantitative and qualitative surveys about their current farming practices and revenues. Producers are positive and enthusiastic about the initiative and keen to benefit from the results to boost income diversification strategies. This new research partnership is still in the early early stages, with only 20% of the surveys conducted, but we are already seeing promising insights emerge.

Led by Touton Uganda and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), with the support of the Sustainable Food Lab and USAID, the research partnership strives to find concrete diversification strategies to improve coffee farmers economic and climate resilience in Uganda. Since November 2020, the project team has been working to collect data that will help distinguish the most actionable on-farm income diversification strategies, based on the unique profiles and farming processes of Arabica coffee producers in Kasese district, Western Uganda.

Specific objectives of the research include detecting obstacles and opportunities for crop diversification that will accommodate different profiles of Arabica smallholder producers, and to pinpoint concrete strategies for boosting the adoption of good agronomic and agroforestry practices by producers. Initial findings from the surveys suggest that:

• About 60% of coffee household farmland is used for coffee farming in the Rwenzori region of Uganda, with most farmers owning a single coffee garden, with an average of 320 coffee bushes. Coffee farms are relatively small with limited opportunity for expansion in this enclaved landscape between the neighboring Queen Elizabeth National Park in the lowlands, and the Rwenzori national park that separates Uganda from DRC. Small farms translate into small production and a fragmented supply chain.

• Almost unanimous observations that the meteorological conditions are evolving, with longer dry periods, heavier and shorter rains. Coffee trees in the area are generally over 25 years old, with only a minority of producers engaging into rehabilitation activities such as stumping and replanting. We can anticipate that the combination of these factors has a negative impact on coffee production, which, according to respondents, has decreased over the past year. These early findings support the urgency to sensitize producers about engaging in regenerative agriculture practices in their gardens.

• Demand from coffee farmers for technical extension is high, specifically to address decreasing yields. This combination of low productivity on small farms, with few investments, leads to a poverty cycle. In turn, farmers are increasingly interested in crop diversification solutions to increase their income.

• Farmers already have some level of existing crop diversification - either intercropped with coffee or within dedicated gardens. However, these strategies appear to remain “ad-hoc”, which provides an opportunity to support farmers agronomically to improve the potential of all crops.

• Respondents have shown enthusiasm towards this research and for the support Touton and IITA aim to provide in the Rwenzori region.

Such results and positive attitudes are highly encouraging for the forthcoming rounds of surveys and interviews due to take place in the coming weeks. With 357 Rwenzori farmers interviewed by the end of the process, official results should allow research partners to develop key recommendations for the targeted adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture practices, agroforestry, and crop diversification. Such recommendations will hopefully unfold into concrete testing that will boost coffee farmers’ living income, making them more resilient, economically and towards climate change.

 

 Digital and Satellite Technology Program Launches to Support Ghana’s Smallholder Cocoa Farmers 

July 10th, ACCRA, GHANA – SAT4Farming, an initiative to reach thousands of small-scale cocoa producers with information and services to improve their productivity and sustainability, was announced today. It is designed to use digital technology and satellite imagery to create individual Farm Development Plans (FDPs) that guide farmers over a seven-year period. 

Our collective commitment to address deforestation and forest degradation in the cocoa sector is the first of its kind - we know that an effective solution for deforestation requires a cooperative, multi-stakeholder initiative.

Learn more :
http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/cocoa-industry-announces-cooperative-initiative-to-end-deforestation

Touton was one of the first companies to join the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative that was set up in 2016 by IDH (The Sustainable Trade Initiative).

The SVI brings together multinational companies and NGOs that are involved at different levels in the vanilla supply chain in a public-private partnership, The aim is to encourage sustainable practices that in turn, will contribute to ensuring future supply as well as stimulating economic growth in vanilla producing countries.

Learn more about the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative:
https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/initiative/sustainable-vanilla-initiative

On 30 October French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was guided through the different processing steps at the CTPC factory in Tema by Patrick de Boussac - Touton CEO - and Patrick Davailleau - Head of Cocoa Touton Processing Company (CTPC).

Learn more about the visit:
http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/2016/November-2nd/french-pm-tours-ghanas-cocoa-touton-processing-company.php

Loss of tropical rainforests is a major issue in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together produce nearly two-thirds of the world’s supply of cocoa. Touton has just published its second Ghana progress report for the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, a public private partnership that coordinates efforts towards building a more sustainable and climate resilient cocoa supply chain.

Day in day out, we build sustainability programs in a way that cocoa farming and sourcing not only protect and restore forests, but also promote sustainable cocoa production and farmers’ livelihoods. One of the major objectives is to “grow more cocoa on less land” which means applying effective landscape management approaches. Sustainability programs are tailored to local needs and include engaging with cocoa farmers and communities to improve planting materials, to provide training in good agricultural and agroforestry practices, boosting the land tenure reform, or supporting income diversification.  

The best way to picture what these efforts mean on the ground is to look at what farming partners have to say about it, such as Christopher Bonsu Amoako, from Sewfi Yawmatwa, in the West North of Ghana, a very engaged actor for change in his community:

I heard about cocoa rehabilitation and landscape management for the first time in 2016, when CFI partners came   to sensitize our cocoa community. Their presentation really clarified the impact of climate change on our cocoa production and how the forest plays a key role in protecting us and our plantations.

Firstly, I have significantly developed my network in the Ghanaian forest and cocoa supply chain, meeting and working with several organizations. Secondly, I have progressed in knowledge and skills to improve my own cocoa farming, including: Good Agronomic Practices, General Planning, Financial Literacy and Savings.

I am convinced that good landscape management and agroforestry practices are important to protect our forest and improve our wellbeing. The shade trees I planted just a year ago are doing very well. I foresee that in 5 to 6 years’ time, we will see great performance in the plantation, and more forest to curb the negative effects of changing raining patterns. I can compare the positive effects of shade trees and humid ecosystems on my yield every day. My cocoa plot located near the forest is healthy and rendering well. On the contrary, the plot that is far away from the forest is performing poorly, so I decided to plant shade trees on it. 

It is not always easy though; the main implementation challenge I face is to motivate the whole community to work together. When I pushed for setting up shade tree nurseries, the chiefs offered land but the logistics to coordinate the work of a big group, and the lack of material to work efficiently, made it more difficult.

Standing in solidarity with coffee planting communities in Honduras, Touton responded positively to the donation appeal launched by COAGRICSAL, Honduran coffee, cocoa, and pepper cooperative. Our financial donation is supporting our partner’s efforts on the ground to quickly relieve thousands of farmers from the devastating combined effect of Hurricanes Iota, Eta and COVID 19.

    

The two category 5 hurricanes hit Honduras on November 2020, causing severe damages to road and bridge infrastructure, flooding houses and plantations, especially in the Copan region where COAGRICSAL operates in partnership with more than 1500 planting families. 

Coffee harvests have been impacted after strong rainfalls and winds stormed out the country. The damage to the coffee crops is still being assessed, while farmers face difficulties accessing the remaining plantations because of landslides and the destruction of infrastructure. At the time of writing, CONCAFE, the Honduran National Coffee Council, estimates that approximately 3% of the exportable production forecast for the 2020/21 harvest, up to 200,000 60kg bags are at risk of loss.

Thanks to the exceptional engagement of people on the ground, and donations from partners, such as Touton, the cooperative’s management team is now able to bring first aid supplies to local farming communities, improve road access and manage river and stream water flows.

Touton has been a trading partner of Cooperativa Agrícola Cafetalera San Antonio Limitada (COAGRICSAL) since 2015, offering coffee roasters the distinct quality of organic Honduran coffee beans, certified Fair For Life produced in the Copan region.

Florian Dumeaux, Director Coffee Department at Touton Group said: “Providing support for our friends at COAGRICSAL and their farming communities was an obvious choice. This cooperative really does an amazing job at turning coffee farming in Honduras into a more profitable and sustainable activity for local communities whilst delivering great quality coffee. It is our responsibility to back them up during these difficult times.”

On top of using modern technology and its own processing plant for the production and marketing of coffee, the certified cooperative is fully engaged in sustainable development and fair-trade processes. It guarantees full traceability of coffee beans and supports positive sustainable change amongst farming families in its community, including access to schooling, clean water, and roads. In 2019, the farmers’ fair price premium paid by Touton enabled further improvements to the Clinica Fundacion Manos Amigas, a medical and dental care center for the community, opened every day and employing Honduran healthcare staff.

Sandra Marleny Soriano, Chief Financial Officer at COAGRICSAL Honduras said: “It is hard to witness the damage done to twenty years’ worth of coordinated efforts with our farmers to build a resilient and fair organic coffee production system. But the strong flood currents have not taken away our sense of solidarity and we are now rebuilding our homes and infrastructures to deliver our harvest. In these exceptional circumstances, we thank and recognize the value of having lasting trusted trading partners such as Touton.” 

Touton will continue to support COAGRICSAL and the Copan communities throughout their recovery efforts, sustaining their ability to return to normality and earn a decent living with quality coffee.

To learn more about latest relief developments and Coagricsal coffee, contact our coffee team in Bordeaux   

Yesterday, 19 October, Touton and a consortium of partners signed an MoU to launch the Partnership for Productivity Protection and Resilience in Cocoa Landscapes (PPRCL). The signing event took place in Accra, Ghana during the 2nd National REDD+ Forum organised by the Ghana Forestry Commission. The event featured a keynote speech from the  President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.who applauded the launch of the new Partnership led by Touton.

Touton is proud to share its 2015/2016 Sustainable Sourcing Report.
The report includes a description of our group’s holistic approach to sustainability as well as an overview of our projects on the ground. We take this opportunity to thank all our partners and customers for their support in our endeavors to improve sustainability in our supply chains.

 Download Our Report

As part of the Vokatra Mevan'i* programme, Touton Ingredients has just financed and will nurture 2000 clove seedlings in the Eastern part of Madagascar. Once ready, the plants will be distributed to farmers in the area of Ambodimanga who will then benefit from the expert advice of the CTHT (Technical Horticultural Centre of Tamatave) for a period of 3 years. Touton is committed to this partnership as it believes that the success of such a programme is the result of shared effort, shared knowledge and shared resources.

*Touton Good Products

On 19 October Touton SA signed an MoU with the Ghana Forestry Commission detailing how the French company’s new project on climate smart cocoa supports and complements the Forestry Commission’s objectives in the implementation of the Ghana Cocoa Forest Redd+ Programme (GCFRP).

This new agreement builds on the MoU signed between the Ghana Cocoa Board & Touton SA at the end of 2014 outlining how both parties aimed to work together towards the development of a robust climate smart cocoa approach.

Learn more about this partnership :
http://fcghana.org/news.php?news=94