12 July 2012: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced that Nestlé, the world’s largest coffee buyer and nutrition company, will collaborate on a project to boost incomes and economic opportunities for 10,000 coffee farmers in Haiti. Nestlé will provide US$300,000 in funding to the IDB for the project.

The funding will focus on rehabilitating coffee orchards, improving farmer productivity, and raising awareness about economically beneficial production methods. Nestlé will supply high-yielding coffee seedlings to replace ageing coffee trees, and provide seedlings for other staple crops to improve food security. According to IDB, these efforts will support the larger goal of helping Haiti regain its status as a world-class coffee producer. [IDB Press Release]