Nestlé Pledges Support to Revive Haitis Coffee Industry

VEVEY, SwitzerlandNestlé is supporting a multi-partner international development program set up by the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in collaboration with the L'Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to provide about $3.5 million in grants to help revive the countrys coffee industry and improve the livelihoods of more than 10,000 smallholder coffee farmers in Haiti.

Coffee was Haitis principal agricultural export until 20 years ago when the countrys output began to decline sharply. The annual amount of coffee sold for export dropped from 191,000 bags in 1990 to 16,000 bags by 2009 due to a variety of international and regional factors, compounded by a persistent lack of farm investment.

The new program will focus on strengthening the business skills of coffee cooperatives and helping them expand activities, such as coffee bean collection and processing, quality control, certification, and marketing, while reducing costs. The program also will also lend financial support and expertise to help cooperatives diversify their interests beyond coffee production, to include group purchases of agricultural materials, leasing farm equipment and coffee roasting.

Nestlé signed an agreement with the IDB to offer coffee farmers in Haiti advice and technical assistance in coffee production and processing techniques. The company will commit $300,000 over three years to the program to help fund the activities.

Nestlé will work with Haitis National Coffee Institute (INCAH) to provide coffee seedlings and planting materials to enable coffee growers to replant and regenerate older crops.

The company will also collaborate with other program partners, including the Colombian government, to ensure Haitian coffee growers benefit from the experience of their counterparts in other countries, particularly Colombia and the Dominican Republic.