Last updated on December 30th, 2022 at 05:53 pm
Minneapolis-based Cargill and CARE are expanding their partnership to improve the lives and economic development of smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs focusing on women, with Cargill pledging $14 million over the next three years.
The goal is to drive impact and build resiliency for rural agricultural communities globally as the world faces a growing hunger crisis.
For more than 60 years, the two organizations have collaborated to develop and implement 34 programs that reached more than 4.6 million people across 13 countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua and Indonesia.
“Cargill has been CARE’s longest standing corporate partnership – a collaboration spanning more than six decades,” said Michelle Nunn, president and CEO, CARE U.S.
“With Cargill’s support, CARE has helped millions of people around the world grow more food, expand their incomes and build their communities. The next phase of our partnership will apply the lessons of experience and new innovations to increase our impact and create a more sustainable and food secure world.”
The renewed third phase of “Promoting a Sustainable and Food Secure World” program will support 11 projects spanning 10 countries including Benin, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines and Vietnam.
With more than 50 percent of the world’s food produced by women, PROSPER will focus on three main areas:
- Enabling women’s access to inclusive markets to unlock greater production, expand profits on small-scale agriculture and ensure food security.
- Increasing women’s access to agricultural resources by improving access to market information, extension and inputs, as well as the technology and financial services they need to be successful.
- Strengthening and expanding partnerships to advocate for systemic change for women and the broader community.
With these refined focus areas, PROSPER will be more focused on women and have a greater emphasis on scaling its work through advocacy and partnership.
“Building resilient agricultural supply chains is at the core of our work at Cargill, and we know women play a critical part in driving the long-term change needed to strengthen the food system,” said Pilar Cruz, chief sustainability officer at Cargill. “We are excited to expand our work with CARE and continue improving livelihoods of people in agricultural communities around the world.”
