SINGAPORE — Olam Agri has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to scale up sustainable development in the global agri-food sector.

The MOU provides a framework that will facilitate collaboration between the two partners across staple agriculture supply chains that include rice, cotton and rubber in developing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Olam Agri said. It extends and deepens the long-standing partnership that GIZ and Olam Agri have shared over the past 15 years helping smallholder farmers become more productive, profitable and sustainable.

“We’ve shared a strong and fruitful relationship with GIZ over the years during which we’ve made significant inroads in transforming smallholder farming in several supply chains across many geographies to be more productive, profitable and sustainable,” said Sunny Verghese, co-founder and group chief executive officer of Olam Agri.

Three key objectives of the MOU are to support sustainable food production at a range of scales toward climate adaptation while protecting and preserving soil health, biodiversity and water resources; improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and providing them with access to key services and inclusive opportunities; and establishing sustainability and traceability across agriculture supply chains.

The objectives are aligned with Olam Agri’s purpose to transform food and agriculture for a more sustainable and food-secure future.

For joint projects, GIZ and Olam Agri have identified six priority intervention areas:

  • nutrition-sensitive regenerative agriculture;
  • harvest and post-harvest loss reduction;
  • access to finance for smallholders;
  • economic inclusion and rights;
  • management of crop residues and reuse;
  • ecosystem services, including protection and restoration of ecosystems and carbon initiatives.

Both partners said they will continue to identify topics relevant across value chains and regions to drive innovation and scaling, with possible cross-sectoral issues including climate and carbon credits, landscape-scale approaches and digitization.

“The signing of this MOU with Olam Agri marks a pivotal step forward in our collaborative efforts toward sustainable food production,” said Anna Sophie Herken, managing director at GIZ, a service provider for international cooperation for sustainable development and international educational work.

Founded over 30 years ago, Olam Agri started operations in Nigeria and has expanded into six continents to become one of the world’s leading agribusiness companies. It processes grains and oilseeds and produces animal feed, edible oils and other food and industrial products.