The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mars Inc., and the Institute for Development Impact (I4DI) announce a joint investment of up to $7.2 million to improve the profitability and sustainability of Indonesia’s cocoa industry.
Through the Advancing Cocoa Agroforestry Towards Income, Value, and Environmental Sustainability (ACTIVE) partnership, with a duration of four years, USAID, Mars, and I4DI will support smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and livelihoods through climate-smart agriculture practices, such as improving water resources management to overcome drought stress and protecting the native trees that shade their crops, which boosts carbon storage. These improvements in cocoa farming can go hand-in-hand with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Through these practices, farmers will become part of the solution for building Indonesia’s resilience to the increasingly frequent climate-related natural disasters, such as landslides, which can harm their farms and cocoa crops. These initiatives will also contribute to a more reliable and climate-resilient supply of Indonesian cocoa, for which the United States is the second largest destination market in the world, and position smallholder farmers to achieve sustainable living incomes.
USAID’s contribution of up to $3.5 million dollars to ACTIVE, subject to the availability of funds, reaffirms the United States’ and Indonesia’s shared commitment to fight climate change for the sake of all our futures. By promoting sustainable cocoa agroforestry practices that mitigate climate change and allow farmers to adapt to climate consequences that they are experiencing now, USAID is contributing to higher, steadier earnings for cocoa farmers and a greener, more sustainable Indonesian cocoa industry in the future.
ACTIVE is the 11th partnership formed under the HEARTH program, through which USAID co-invests with the private sector to advance the well-being of people and the planet.