Olam Agri, IDH expand partnership to strengthen sustainable feed value chains in Africa

WEST AFRICA – Olam Agri and sustainable trade initiative IDH have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their collaboration on climate-smart agriculture, with a stronger focus on developing resilient food and feed value chains across Africa.

The agreement builds on ongoing projects in Nigeria and Ghana and will support smallholder farmers, cooperatives, processors and agribusinesses through improved market access, farmer training and sustainable sourcing initiatives.

For the feed sector, the partnership is expected to strengthen local production of key feed ingredients, particularly soybeans, while promoting climate-resilient farming practices that improve productivity and supply chain stability.

The expanded collaboration builds on an existing programme in Kwara State, Nigeria, where Olam Agri and IDH are working with about 5,000 soybean farmers to improve agricultural practices, strengthen market linkages, and build commercially viable farming systems. 

Soybean remains one of the most important protein ingredients used in livestock and aquaculture feed across Africa.

The partners will also launch a new initiative in Ghana through IDH’s Women in Sourcing and Enterprise (WISE) programme. 

While the project supports drought-tolerant wheat production and women-owned bakeries, it also aims to strengthen sustainable agricultural value chains by improving local production capacity and expanding market opportunities.

Beyond Nigeria and Ghana, Olam Agri and IDH intend to identify new food and feed projects across other African markets.

Priority areas include promoting equitable market access for farmers adopting regenerative agriculture, developing climate-resilient sourcing landscapes, eliminating deforestation from agricultural supply chains, strengthening local processing capacity, and improving data-driven decision-making across value chains.

The partners said these initiatives will help improve the availability of sustainably produced agricultural raw materials while supporting stronger local feed and food industries.

“Our collaboration in Nigeria and Ghana shows that meaningful progress happens when farmers, businesses, communities and institutions work together around shared goals,” said Saurabh Mehra, CEO, Food and Feed, Processing and Value-added at Olam Agri.

“This MoU provides a platform to build on that progress, combining market access and operational expertise with strong local partnerships to support more resilient, inclusive and climate-smart agricultural value chains.”

Building resilient feed ingredient supply chains

Africa’s livestock sector continues to face rising demand for high-quality feed ingredients amid climate pressures, supply disruptions and increasing feed costs. 

Expanding local production of crops such as soybeans is viewed as critical to reducing import dependence while improving feed security for poultry, dairy, aquaculture and livestock producers.

Olam Agri said the partnership will combine its global sourcing network and operational expertise with IDH’s experience in building multi-stakeholder partnerships to accelerate sustainable agricultural development.

“Partnership is essential to transforming agricultural markets at the scale required to meet today’s economic, environmental and social challenges,” said Daan Wensing, CEO of IDH.

“By this stronger collaboration, we strengthen the link between sourcing practices, livelihoods and long-term supply security. Building on results in Nigeria, we are now extending this approach in Ghana.”

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