Increasing Income
Supporting a sustainable future for smallholder farmers.
At Mars, we believe everyone working within our extended supply chains should earn a sufficient income to meet the basic needs of themselves and their families.
This is our goal. Although Mars supply chains are complex, smallholder farmers are the backbone of supply for many of our most critical raw materials. Not only are we focused on helping smallholder farmers prosper today, but we’re also working to help ensure that the next generation is motivated to stay connected to farming as a profession that allows them to thrive tomorrow.
Why We’re Invested in Increasing Farmer Income
It's estimated that up to half a billion smallholder households(Opens a new window) produce roughly one-third of the world’s food, yet far too many live in poverty. It’s time for more innovative, supply chain-focused approaches with meaningful impact. We prioritize activities in supply chains where the scale and depth of smallholder poverty is highest, and where our business has the highest interdependency on their agricultural products.
Maximizing Impact with the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming
To further our investment in smallholder farmers, we co-founded the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming(Opens a new window), which invests to develop sustainable agriculture projects aimed at improving incomes, enhancing food security and restoring ecosystems.
The Farmer Income Lab
In 2018, Mars launched the Farmer Income Lab as a collaborative “think-do tank,” focused on finding practical insights needed to help eradicate smallholder poverty. This Lab was intended to be a catalyst to drive faster, more effective results within our supply chains and amplify our impact by sharing our insights with others. We’re now focused on implementing learnings at-scale through living income programs that incorporate farmer financing, long-term buying relationships, diversification, and agroforestry (among other intervention areas).
The Farmer Income Lab research can be found here.
