With a $7.5 million grant provided by the Gates Foundation to TechnoServe, $3 million provided by The Coca-Cola Company, and $1 million by bottling partner Coca-Cola Sabco, the project aims to create new market opportunities for local farmers whose fruit will be used for Coca-Cola's locally-produced and sold fruit juices. As the implementing partner, Technoserve will train participating farmers in improving quality, increasing production, getting organized into farmer groups, and will facilitate access to credit. The Coca-Cola Company, nonprofit TechnoServe, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a four-year, US$ 11.5 million inclusive business partnership (see the press release) to enable over 50,000 small-scale mango and passion fruit farmers in Uganda and Kenya to double their incomes by 2014 and empower them to supply Coca-Cola’s growing local fruit juice business.
The partnership leverages Coca-Cola’s core business activities and operational expertise to facilitate economic empowerment and entrepreneurship in developing countries, and ultimately to bring about more jobs and more prosperity. "This partnership is a great example of sustainability. By partnering with tens of thousands of local farmers, we can help increase their incomes while meeting our needs for locally sourced fruit, benefiting both the community and our business," says Nathan Kalumbu, Coca Cola's East & Central Africa business unit president.
As global and local demand for fruit juice grows, there is a critical need to increase production. Small farmers can benefit from this increased demand by supplying fruit that meets the needs of local buyers such as Coca-Cola. Through this partnership, farmers who were previously unable to access this market opportunity will be provided with the tools to do so. This partnership will also serve as a model for Coca-Cola as it grows its juice business in other markets and has been designed to be easily replicated.
This project will be implemented in close collaboration with the governments of Kenya and Uganda, given its significance in the context of their poverty reduction strategies. It is intended to produce lasting benefits for participating farm communities, enabling them to benefit from improved livelihoods for many years to come.
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Another interesting inclusive business initiative of Coca-Cola in Africa relates to its innovative approach to distribution – read the article Advancing new solutions for economic development: Coca-Cola’s Manual Distribution Centers in Ethiopia and Tanzania. For a broader piece on food & beverage companies’ role and opportunities in promoting entrepreneurship in the developing world, see The Role of the Food & Beverage Sector in Expanding Economic Opportunity.
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