Advanced ofi cloud-based farmer pay analysis tool aims to help boost crop yields

A potentially game-changing new cloud-based sustainability tool, known as TRACT, targeting faster analysis of farmer income to enable workers to focus more resources on driving yield growth for cocoa and other major crops, has been delivered in a cross industry project featuring ofi its sister company Olam Agri, reports Neill Barston.

The scheme, that has been devised alongside Norwegian business Agri-Logic, based upon an initial concept from the Rainforest Alliance, uses data collected based on the Living Income Community of Practice and Anker Methodology to analyse how agricultural workers can maximise their respective farming operations to improve their pay.

Significantly, the tool’s emergence is especially timely, given that the World Bank has just increased its definition of poverty level from 2017 rates of $2.15 a day to $3 (based on 2021 prices) representing an international poverty line. As a result, many cocoa farmers in core producing markets of Ghana and Ivory Coast, many of whom earn less than $1 a day, are now falling even further away from earning a living income.

The topic of farmer pay within cocoa supply chains that are at the heart of the confectionery sector will be among sustainability topics at this year’s World Confectionery Conference, as the Rainforest Alliance joins our special Q&A panel. You can register for the event via the following direct link from our dedicated website. 

As ofi has asserted, it has moved to improve farmer income within its supply chains, which it believes that created advanced monitoring and prediction tools will help deliver more efficient farming practices. 

This comes against a major backdrop of cocoa deficits within the region, with crops heavily impacted by disease, adverse weather, and an ageing agricultural workforce that has been hit by comparatively high cocoa prices in the past two years, that have peaked at $12,000 a tonne earlier this year. However, the physical farm gate prices paid has been uprated from $1,800 a tonne, to $2,200 in recent months, but this is still significant below the rates commanded by commodities markets.

Commenting on the development of TRACT, its CEO, Allison Kopf said: “We’re thrilled to work with partners that are thinking innovatively about major sustainability challenges, and willing to share their experience for the benefit of the sector. This tool will serve as a springboard, helping us get to an industry-aligned and widely used approach faster.”

As the collaboration noted, its work builds on the initiative’s ongoing work in facilitating pre-competitive alignment on sustainability metrics and methodologies, and embedding those aligned approaches into its platform that enables consistent, practical use across the industry. In this case, TRACT is working in close collaboration with IDH and using the tool from ofi and Olam Agri as a tangible starting point for alignment.

Furthermore, the initiative is inAdviting companies, NGOs, researchers, and technical experts to take part in the review of the approach and to contribute to broader alignment efforts on farmer income, in collaboration with IDH which is a leading partner in this space. Together, TRACT and IDH aim to advance industry alignment on farmer income measurement across key commodities and ensure compatibility with related data initiatives.

Yves-Pascal Suter, Head of Social Impact at ofi, commented:  “Understanding living income gaps is the crucial first step in tackling the complex challenge of helping more farmers have a decent standard of living. Together with Olam Agri, we saw a gap in the market for an effective measurement tool. When combined with our deep-rooted presence within farming communities, it has provided valuable insights into the most effective strategies for partnering to address these gaps and progress towards our goal of enabling 200,000 farmer households to achieve a living income by 2030 under our Choices for Change strategy. We hope that by making it accessible to the broader food and agri sector, it will be refined further and help create a shared approach to improving farmer incomes worldwide.”

“This tool has made it easier to understand farmer incomes in our supply chains, enabling us to lift the incomes of farmer households and reduce living income gaps”, added Julie Greene, Chief Sustainability Officer, Olam Agri. “We look forward to collaborating with others across the sector to strengthen the tool and expand its impact.”