Mexico City – Nestlé Mexico and Rainforest Alliance have signed an agreement to promote youth development in the cocoa and coffee sectors. Almost 500 young people in Chiapas and Tabasco are to learn modern farming methods on more than 1,000 hectares.
Nestlé Mexico and Rainforest Alliance Mexico, in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID), signed an agreement to support young cocoa and coffee producers in Mexico. According to a media release, Nestlé donated the sum of $250,000 in November 2022. With the new agreement, these will also now be used to promote sustainable harvesting practices in the cacao and coffee sectors on at least 1121 hectares in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. Nearly 500 young people will be offered training in good agroecological practices. In addition, at least 30 of them are to be trained as local managers.
“To secure the future of the cocoa and coffee sector in Mexico, it is essential to support young people working in the field and provide them with knowledge, tools and resources that will enable them to apply new working techniques to improve their yields,” Fausto Costa, CEO of Nestlé Mexico, is quoted as saying.
Further, the agreement will also allow for the establishment of at least eight demonstration sites to strengthen best practices in sustainable agriculture. In addition, there are three exchange events between young local managers in Chiapas and Tabasco and a meeting with producers to share experiences.
The project complements Nestlé Mexico’s Youth Initiative, which aims to reduce the school dropout rate of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 through career counseling and improve their employability. Since 2015, the initiative has provided more than 1.3 million young people with various training and employment opportunities. ce/gba
