UPL exceeds 2022 cocoa & forests initiative goals, empowering farmers to grow more sustainably, equitably and profitably

PR Newswire
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 1:08pm UTC

UPL exceeds 2022 cocoa & forests initiative goals, empowering farmers to grow more sustainably, equitably and profitably

PR Newswire

ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, June 7, 2023

ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, June 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UPL Ltd. (NSE: UPL) (BSE: 512070 (LSE GDR: UPLL) ('UPL'), a global provider of sustainable agricultural solutions, has published its annual progress report under the Cocoa Forest Initiative (CFI), exceeding all targets across each reporting category.

In 2022, UPL and its local partners supported over 92,242 farmers in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire with an investment of US$355,857 to create a more sustainable, equitable, and profitable cocoa faming system. This included training 16,450 cocoa growers in Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), such as the use of sustainable crop protection inputs to increase yields and incomes. UPL also expanded access to Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) schemes to over 16,110 farmers, enabling them to save, invest in their practices, and uplift their livelihoods.

Jai Shroff, Group CEO of UPL, said "I would like to thank all those who invested their time and hard work to ensure we reached more farmers than ever before. Working together with farmers, who are at the heart of what we do, we are making sustainable cocoa a reality. We look forward to continuing our Reimagining Sustainability mission to uplift cocoa communities, transform global food chains, and the safeguard the environment."

Looking ahead, UPL will work with more cocoa communities, with an aim of reaching an additional 45,000 farmers with training in GAPs and stewardship methods and 270,000 with access to financial products and services.

Hubert Ehouman, Cocoa Lead for West & Central Africa of UPL, said "We are proud to have surpassed our 2022 targets and to have brought positive impacts to more growers. As the only agri-inputs signatory to CFI, we are committed to using our unique position to expand these positive impacts to benefit more farmers, empower more communities, and advance the sustainability of the cocoa sector."

The CFI is a public-private partnership between the World Cocoa Foundation, the Governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and 36 leading cocoa and chocolate companies, that aims to combat deforestation and restore forested areas.

About UPL

UPL Ltd. (NSE: UPL) (BSE: 512070), (LSE: UPLL) is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions, with annual revenue exceeding $6bn. We are a purpose-led company. Through OpenAg®, UPL is focused on accelerating progress for the food system. We are building a network that is reimagining sustainability, redefining the way an entire industry thinks and works – open to fresh ideas, innovation, and new answers as we strive towards our mission to make every single food product more sustainable. As one of the largest agriculture solutions companies worldwide, our robust portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions with more than 14,000 registrations. We are present in more than 130 countries, represented by more than 10,000 colleagues globally. For more information about our integrated portfolio of solutions across the food value chain including seeds, post-harvest, as well as physical and digital services, please visit please visit upl-ltd.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

For more information, please contact:
UPL
Desere Ray
Marketing & Communication Manager – AME
desere.ray@upl-ltd.com
+27 (0)31 514-5600

 

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SOURCE UPL Ltd.