Agricultural and food company, Cargill, is set to invest over $113 million to expand its cocoa processing sites in Yopougon, Ivory Coast and Tema, Ghana.

The project will see the Youpougon site getting a $100 million investment thus increasing its production capacity by 50% while the Tema site will get the remaining $13million worth of investment thus increasing its production by 20%. This investment will see the Youpougon site employing 85 people directly while creating hundreds of indirect jobs.

Explaining the expansion of the processing plants Lionel Soulard, managing director Cargill West-Africa said: “We aim to shift a greater share of our global grinding activities to the countries of origin, so we can support the establishment of broader, local agri-food industry. Working directly with both governments and other key stakeholders, we are committed to economic growth, building sustainable local businesses and diversifying sources of income for cocoa farming communities.”

The sustainability and supply chain investments in the two countries are taking place as part of the Cargill Cocoa Promise: the company’s corporate commitment to improving the lives of cocoa farmers and their communities. These community projects will focus on creating stronger, more resilient cocoa-farming communities.

Culled from www.cargill.com