Business
Nestlé Joins Project to Assist Haitian Coffee Growers
- Tuesday, July 17, 2012 9:21 AM
VEVEY, Switzerland (defend.ht) - Nestlé has partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank in a project aimed at raising the yields of Haitian coffee growers by providing seedlings and technical assistance to farmers.
Announced on Thursday, Nestlé will provide $300,000 in in-kind technical assistance. This assistance will supported by the IDB, the French Agency for Development (AFD), the Colombian government, the National Coffee Federation of Colombia (FNC) and Haiti's National Coffee Institute (INCAH), and carried out by the French NGO, Agronomists and Veterinarians without Borders (AVSF).
Nestlé says this assistance will "focus on efforts to rehabilitate coffee orchards, improve farmer productivity, and facilitate knowledge transfer."
In a press note, the IDB said, to help raise farm productivity, Nestlé will supply high-yielding coffee seedlings to replace ageing coffee trees on Haitian smallholder farms. The company will also provide seedlings for staple crops such as banana and yams that promote food security.
And through its office in the Dominican Republic, Nestlé will provide technical assistance to coffee producers in Haiti. The company will foster knowledge transfer and best practices by sponsoring study tours between Haiti and other coffee producing countries, the note continued.
Until two decades ago, coffee was Haiti’s principal farm export, representing as much as 70 percent of its foreign agricultural sales. A combination of international and domestic factors contributed to a sharp decline in output, which was compounded by a persistent lack of farm investment. As a result, coffee exports shriveled from 191,000 bags in 1990 to 16,000 bags in 2009.
Related 11.17.2011: Interior Minister Mayard-Paul Launches First International Summit of Haitian Coffee
Related 05.21.2012: U.S. Restaurants Begin Carrying Hand-Picked Coffee Beans from Haiti
Source: IDB
