Nescafé Plan boosts farmers’ income
After five years of implementation, Nescafé Plan- a cooperative programme between the world's leading nutrition, health, and wellness company Nestlé, Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (WASI), and other partners- has contributed to improving the quality and raising coffee yield by 14 per cent per hectare (ha).
The achievements of the initiative have increased farmers’ income by 14% per ha, equal to VND16 million (US$735) per ha per year.
This was the outcome of strenuous efforts made by stakeholders to keep Vietnam at the forefront of the global Robusta coffee industry.
The project, with active support from WASI, has played a significant role in bettering farmers’ incomes in the four Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Lam Dong through the provision of quality, high-yielding and pest-resistant coffee seeds.
For five years until October 2015, a total of 11 million seedlings were supplied to farmers, from a mere 76,000 seedlings in the first year (2011).
The project is of high practical value as stunted coffee plantation areas with low quality and productivity now account for a large proportion of the Central Highlands, a major coffee area in the country. The results of the initiative are especially significant as previous re-cultivation efforts proved less-effective.
Aside from promoting coffee re-cultivation, the project provided training and technical support based on the 4C Code of Conduct of 4C Association to ensure sustainability in coffee production to more than one hundred thousand farmers.
By the end of the fifth year, over 21,000 farmers have been awarded 4C certifications, a huge improvement compared to the 1,500 farmers in the first year.
Nguyen Cao Tri, a coffee farmer in Di Linh township, Lam Dong province, shared, “Apart from higher incomes, our lives have been improved remarkably on account of the active and practical support from the project implementers. I hope the project continue supporting our farmers in the future.”
Nescafé Plan, running from 2011 until present, is part of Nestlé’s commitment to promote a responsible coffee supply chain from cultivation to production and consumption.
The project has elevated Nestlé to become the leading buyer of Vietnamese coffee as well as maintain Vietnam’s position as the world-leading Robusta coffee producer in the past five years.