Farmers in the developing world will soon benefit from an effort aiming to pull their communities up the economic ladder.
The Enhanced Livelihoods Investment Initiative (ELII) could help improve the lives of as many as 60,000 local farmers throughout Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Caribbean. Over a three-year period, at least $10 million will be used to launch and improve private businesses that support smallholder farmers in underserved regions, according to a statement from nonprofit Acumen.
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According to Unilever CEO Paul Polman, ELII has the potential to revolutionize how his company does business — and how the world produces food.
“This partnership has the potential to dramatically increase the scale of what we can do to support smallholder farmers, empower women across our supply chains and in turn help build sustainable, viable businesses that alleviate poverty,” Polman said. “Ultimately, we see this as a new model for creating a vibrant ecosystem of enterprises across supply chains.”
