This unique development partnership includes a comprehensive three-year programme that will impact 32 communities and involve 44 schools and colleges, giving it the potential to improve 24,000 lives in one of the world’s poorest nations.
The programme is partly financed within the framework of the develoPPP.de programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Madagascar produces 79% of the world’s natural vanilla supply. Unilever uses vanilla as an ingredient in its ice cream brands, such as Magnum, Breyers and Carte D’Or. The partnership aims to secure this vanilla supply for Unilever in the future and to support the farming communities with improved access to secondary education and training in agricultural best practices.
The programme will operate through farmer field schools to increase vanilla productivity and encourage crop diversification. As a result, farmers can earn more money from vanilla, improve their food self-sufficiency and also sell other crops during lean periods. Consequently, it will enhance the farmers’ economic independence.
The integrated education programme will also support environmental education in primary schools through training teachers and providing teaching kits, and aims to establish a learning platform of rural agricultural colleges for vocational training of adolescents.
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