JDE ‘s corporate responsibility program covers 3 core areas: at the source, within the company, for the consumer. The company works directly with coffee farmers, producer organisations, exporters, suppliers and NGOs in origin countries, to enable farmers to sustainably produce coffee and improve their livelihoods.
Since November 2017, Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC)Â and Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) are partnering in Indonesia to support smallholder farmers who have not been exposed to any kind of agronomy training or certification.
The three-year project aims to train and improve the living conditions and resilience of 3,500 farmers and their families in Lampung province, on the island of Sumatra. Based on the assumption that the average family in Lampung has four members, the project expects to benefit some 14,000 people overall.
This project aims to address coffee farming as a family business, involving women as much as possible, for instance by organizing training either exclusively for women or jointly for husbands and wives.
As part of the project, the LDC agronomists analyze soil types and train farmers to use fertilizers efficiently. The project will also run information campaigns on the dangers of banned pesticides, and the potential for improved productivity by investing in agricultural equipment and storage. Finally, we will jointly help increase farmers’ margins through financial literacy training and access to financing.
“There are various environmental and social issues in Indonesia’s coffee production,” says Mr. Do Ngoc Sy, Sustainability Manager Asia Pacific.”That’s why we engage with our direct suppliers, such as LDC, in an open exchange, to learn more about the key sustainability challenges, such as improper agrochemical use, deforestation, unsafe working conditions and climate change, and work together to address these.”
