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Nestlé Collaborates with NCIA and PPK to Help Farmers Improve Yield

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Kuala Lumpur
NESTLÉ CollaboratesCOLL with NCIA and PPK to Help Farmers Improve Yield

Leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness company – Nestlé Malaysia – today signed a collaborative agreement with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) and Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (PPK) MADA C2 as part of its efforts to improve the productivity of the farmers under the Nestlé Paddy Club contract farming initiative.

The Nestlé Paddy Club is a proactive and innovative approach launched in February 2012 to provide additional income to paddy farmers while bringing about environmental benefits by the commercialisation of the Semi-Aerobic Rice Intensification (SARI) method, which improves yield while reducing water usage.

As outlined in the terms of the collaboration, NCIA will be contributing a total of RM2 million to fund and optimise resources for the Nestlé Paddy Club member farmers. The funds will be used to invest in new equipment and machinery, which Nestlé Malaysia has identified as one of the factors prohibiting some of the member farmers within the areas of Kerpan and Sanglang from achieving their targeted yield.

PPK, meanwhile, will act as the implementation agency, in assisting its member farmers who are also part of the Nestlé Paddy Club. Together with the Nestlé Malaysia Agricultural Team, the organisation is responsible for utilising the allocated funds for the purpose of works deemed relevant to the betterment of bunds and irrigation systems within Kerpan and Sanglang.

“We are honoured to be able to work together with two essential implementation bodies, whom we proudly share a common goal with, which is to help farmers achieve better yields whilst ensuring sustainable agriculture. This will ensure the long-term future availability of local rice and also help with the nation’s food security,” said Mr. Alois Hofbauer, Region Head of Nestlé Malaysia and Singapore.

The initial focus group expected to benefit from this collaboration are the Nestlé Paddy Club member farmers from the two areas whose paddy yield has been less than 4MT/ha per season for the past few seasons.

“We believe that individuals and organisations who share the same goals and ideals should coordinate their efforts in creating benefits and socio-economic spillovers for the local community. This explains NCIA's desire to work closely with Nestlé to enhance the livelihood of the paddy farmers; and there is no better way than to do this in partnership with the Nestlé Paddy Club. Working alongside Nestlé, a multinational world-renowned for its track record in social and environmental responsibility, we would be able to learn from its people, not only their methods but more importantly their passion and commitment in building and assisting local communities,” said Dato’ Redza Rafiq, Chief Executive of NCIA.

“We hope that through this collaboration, we are able to achieve the targets set for increasing yield and income of farmers’ households by the year 2020, as tasked by the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) through the Economic Transformation Programme,” said PPK MADA C2 Kerpan Chairman, Tn. Hj. Ismail bin Puteh.

The Nestlé Paddy Club is also in line with Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) business philosophy, which states that in order to create value in the long-term for their shareholders, they must also create value for the community it operates in. The Company focusses on three areas for joint value creation with society:  Nutrition, Water and Rural Development.

How the Nestlé Paddy Club is Creating Shared Value:

BENEFIT TO SOCIETY:

  • Farmers benefit from higher yields, leading to income stability and sustainability
  • Water conservation and methane emission reduction whilst improving crop quality
  • Minimised exposure to hazardous materials & safe handling of inputs
  • Transfer of technology and Good Agricultural Practices help farmers improve yields and crop quality to meet global standards

BENEFIT TO NESTLÉ:

  • Securing a continuous supply of traceable, controllable, reliable, sustainable and stable-priced rice
  • Locally-sourced raw material at specified quality and foreseeable price
  • Lower operational costs & freshness
  • Reduces reliance on imports

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Issued by WestCoast Public Relations Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of Nestlé Malaysia
For more information please contact Tunku Putri at +603-7954 4505 / OR
Zamira Yasmin Abdul Rahman at +603-7965 6212 / [email protected]