​Big Business Collaboration aims to cut the crap in the Coconut Oil Supply Chain, and Empower Smallholder Farmers.

Proctor & Gamble, Cargill, BASF and GIZ have teamed up to empower smallholder coconut oil farmers in regions of the Philippines and Indonesia.

The main issues this alliance will try to address is the sustainability of production, lack of economic scalability and lessening the influence of 'middlemen' traders whom currently perpetuate unsustainable agricultural practices in the hopes for self economic gain.

Efforts of the collaboration between P&G, Cargill, BASF and GIZ are to create a sustainably certified and transparent supply chain of coconut oil from farms in the region. Each organization will be playing a separate role in order to best utilize their competencies to help these smallholder farmers become more self-sufficient businesses.

“Cargill, which owns and operates copra-buying stations and crushing plants, is providing training to smallholder farmers and setting up the structures for certification. The crude and refined oil produced by Cargill is then further processed by BASF and P&G for ingredients in the home and personal care and in the nutrition and health markets. GIZ will steer the project and manage its implementation on the ground, working with government agencies including Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in the Philippines” (Environmental Leader 2017).

In addition, to the aid these farmers will be receiving from Cargill and GIZ on the ground, they will receive aid in the form of training on Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) Standards; so they can eventually apply for a Rainforest Alliance certification. Establishing the smallholder farmer’s operations as RA certified allows them liberties within the alliance, which will result in more sustainable agricultural practices and more honest business for themselves. Ultimately, and hopefully, this collaboration will work to be putting the profits of farming efforts in the hands of the farmers who worked so hard to develop the coconut oil. 

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