Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
Indirect economic impacts G4-DMA
Local sourcing and assistance to farmers
Through our activities in 2015, we enabled around 98 000
farmers to access financial services amounting to
CHF 33 million of assistance. Of this, CHF 28.9 million was
direct financial assistance by Nestlé, such as investment and/
or operational loans, advanced payments, subsidised interest
rates and bank guarantees.
The balance comprises third-party financial assistance and
a non-exhaustive list of in-kind support, such as the supply of
plantlets and other capacity-building measures provided
through Farmer Connect and as part of our activities, such as
the Nescafé Plan, the Nestlé Cocoa Plan and the Nespresso
AAA Sustainable Quality Program.
• Farm management and record-keeping (e.g.
farm economics);
• Water conservation and irrigation management; and
• Water and environmental sanitation for farming
communities (including liquid and solid waste management)
at farm level and in farming communities.
Training is aimed at both women and men farmers. We believe
this will help address disadvantages faced by women farmers
and lead to greater and higher-quality yields, increased
incomes, better family prospects and higher standards of living.
Number of farmers benefiting from financial assistance
2015 98000
2014 83600
2013 59000
Budget for financial assistance to farmers –
direct and indirect (CHF million)
2015 33
2014 39
2013 50
Farmer training
One of the key challenges of our rural development work is
to develop poorer-performing farmers into skilled farmers,
able to meet our standards and become suppliers. We also
aim to improve further the performance of elite farmers and
agripreneurs, with a special focus on owner-operated
family farms.
Number of farmers trained through capacity-building
programmes
2015 400000
2014 376000
2013 300000
In 2015, we provided training to about 400 000 farmers around
the world – almost half our Farmer Connect supplier base –
through our capacity-building programmes. Our farmer
training and support focuses on:
• Seed and plant propagation techniques;
• Soil fertility and plant nutrition;
• Plant health and protection;
• Post-harvest processing, storage and waste reduction;
• Animal feed and fodder production, storage
and conservation;
• Farm animal nutrition, including raw material safety
and quality;
• Farm animal health, care and welfare;
Biofortified cassava in Nigeria
Cassava is the staple food for more than 70 million people in
Africa, and an alternative crop to maize and wheat in waterscarce
regions owing to its low water requirements. As such, it
could help mitigate the effects of climate change. Cassava is
also used in Nestlé Maggi factories as a replacement for corn
starch, which leads to reduced imports of corn starch and
increased incomes for cassava growers. In addition,
biofortified cassava can help fight diseases related to
nutritional deficiencies in rural communities.
Given the importance of cassava, Nestlé’s research and
development (R&D) facility in Abidjan has been researching
biofortification to improve the crop’s nutritional value and its
ability to fight diseases related to malnourishment.
Working with the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), we evaluated cassava varieties to assess
productivity and nutritional value. Subsequent research sought
to select suitable new types, establish more precise
information on their properties and run assessment trials. We
also produced a cassava agronomy field manual for farmers
and extension workers.
Four biofortified cassava varieties were developed and
tested in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, yielding between 35 and 70
tonnes per hectare, compared to local varieties that yield about
18 tonnes per hectare. In addition, a manual for cassava
cultivation focusing on good agricultural practices was
prepared for use, both as a tool for extension workers and as
an input for farmer training.
As well as completing analysis at R&D Abidjan on the plants’
nutritional value, we also aim to investigate ways to get rid of
the cassava mosaic virus, which is responsible for up to 70% of
post-harvest losses. As cassava fields are largely owned by
women, it is anticipated that high-quality planting material will
favour women in particular and contribute to their income.
We also have technical assistance schemes in place across
most countries where we have milk operations: these include
managing water programmes with farmers and providing
farmers with access to finance.
Nestlé in society – Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015 101