Kellogg’s Company has announced it has achieved significant progress in its global efforts to support farmers, protect and restore ecosystems and combat climate change.
The company has collaborated with more than 440,000 farmers in 29 countries through the Kellogg’s Origins program, a global initiative to promote climate, social and financial resiliency. The program includes partnerships to help communities restore agricultural ecosystems in Kellogg sourcing regions, using nature-based solutions to boost farm productivity.
“Our focus is on helping farmers implement meaningful solutions that deliver tangible benefits to people and planet,” said Amy Senter, Kellogg’s Company’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Farmers are stewards of the earth and, by supporting their efforts, we can help make practices that restore ecosystems the norm.”
Kellogg’s Origins include unique partnerships between Kellogg brands and farmers to responsibly source ingredients and bring restorative agriculture practices to the mainstream. Just four brand programs have reached 395 farmers managing more than 500,000 acres across the world:
Kashi Certified Transitional Program: Less than 1 per cent of U.S. farmland is Certified Organic. Beginning in 2015, Kashi partnered with farmers growing wheat, corn, rice, sorghum, dates and almonds helping them navigate the long and expensive process of transitioning from conventional farming to organic. The brand provided financial compensation and bought transitional grains to use in products including Kashi Dark Cocoa Karma cereal. The brand was the first American food company to offer a certified transitional program to farmers, working with Quality Assurance International (QAI), the leading organic certification organisation, to create the initiative. To date, Kashi has paid more than $ 4 million in premiums to US farmers and helped to convert 10,000 acres of farmland to organic.
Origins Spain: Rice grown in Spain’s Valencia and Delta Del Ebro regions goes into Kellogg’s Special K cereals and other foods across Europe, but local challenges with soil salinity and crop pests can make rice production challenging. A local network of 68 farmers managing over 12,000 acres partners with Kellogg and the Institute of Agri-food Research and Technology to address these challenges through training, field research and demonstration plots to promote practices that also support local ecosystems. The program also helped farmers implement native floral margins along rice fields to encourage beneficial insects, test diverse crop rotations with ryegrass, pea, oats and vetch, and install on-farm habitat for natural pest predators such as bats and swallows. The program also benefited farmers economically. By 2018, farmers reported an average 15% increase in production and an average profitability increase of € 285 per hectare from their demonstration plots.
The Cool Soil Initiative (Australia): In 2020, Kellogg joined a partnership with Mars Petcare, Manildra Group, Allied Pinnacle, Sustainable Food Lab, and leading researchers at Charles Sturt University and Food Agility to launch the Cool Soil Initiative. This $ 2 million “paddock to product” partnership will help 200 Aussie wheat farmers over three years to adopt soil health practices including cover crops and crop rotation to improve resiliency to climate change. Healthy soils can store carbon, and if the Cool Soil Initiative can restore a 0.1% increase in soil carbon across 1.7 million acres, the impact would the equivalent of removing more than 1 million cars from the road. Partners have embraced the program, with 100% retention of participating farmers and more than 30,000 acres of “Innovation Paddocks” enrolled.
Supporting Mexican Corn Farmers in Mexico: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Kellogg’s Zucaritas are best-selling cereals made from yellow maize. However, this variety of maize is not commonly grown in Mexico. Since 2016, Kellogg partnered with the preeminent International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and suppliers to establish a local responsible sourcing program that helps farmers in Sinaloa and Guanajuato produce sustainably grown yellow maize for Kellogg products. The partnership exceeded its 2020 goal to reach 200 farmers who have begun producing yellow maize. The farmers received direct training to implement conservation agriculture practices and have improved their farm profitability by 36%. Because of this success, Kellogg and CIMMYT have extended their partnership for another four years to expand this local sourcing model that restores healthy soils and promotes farmers’ resilience.
(Watch this video for more on Kellogg’s Origins programs around the world.)
Restoring Ecosystems
Through these programs, Kellogg’s closely collaborates with farmers to help them the environment, while they also feed the world and provide for the wellbeing of their families. The Origins program is also aligned with Kellogg’s support of the United Nation’s Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, which aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.
“Ecosystems support all life on Earth. Healthy ecosystems mean a healthier planet and healthier people. We are committed to partnering with famers, and in every aspect of our business, toward the goal of ecosystem protection and restoration,” said Senter.
Creating Better Days
The Origins program supports Kellogg’s Better Days commitment to nurture people and the planet by supporting 1 million farmers, especially women smallholders and workers, and conserving natural resources across our value chain. In total, Kellogg is working to create Better Days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030 by addressing food security and focusing on the interconnected issues of wellbeing, hunger relief and climate resiliency.
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