New York, 18 April 2016 - Tolaro Global, a Benin-based processor of raw cashew nuts, has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to increase the number of smallholders supplying raw materials, provide fair trade and organic certification to cashew growers, and utilize clean energy solutions to power the company's plant and surrounding community by 2020.

To accomplish its goals, Tolaro will train and 2,500 people from Benin's Borgou region a quarter of them women in fair trade and organic practices. This unprecedented move will allow the company to source 20,000 metric tons of raw cashews each year up from 2,000 per year from 30,000 smallholder farmers. Tolaro will directly employ up to 2,500 people in the factory and train up to 11,000 farmers in these practices by 2020.

"Tolaro believes that developing the cashew industry in conjunction with community development efforts will bring a sustainable transformation to the region and eventually the country," said Jace Rabe, Tolaro's Founder and Chief Executive Officer a former Peace Corps volunteer and commodities trader with a love for Benin. "The long-term viability of Tolaro's or any business's success must involve developing the community in which it works. We are pleased to have our inclusive business recognized by the Business Call to Action."

With a network of 7,000 farmers supplying the company's factory in Benin, Tolaro works with cooperatives to encourage the technical and economic development of its smallholder cashew farmers. To increase their competency and competitiveness, the company employs a staff agronomist and uses a train-the-trainer methodology to reach thousands of smallholders. Currently the company is helping cooperatives to achieve Fairtrade certification; it will start the organic certification process in August 2016. By learning and implementing organic cultivation standards, farmers have the potential to increase their earnings by up to 20 percent: 10-15 percent premium paid for Fairtrade and 15-20 percent premium for organic. The range depends on the market and how its current rates. It is, therefore, possible for a farmers certified in both Fairtrade and organic standards could get up to 35 percent premiums over the market.

Other initiatives include the addition of beekeeping to increase pollination, improve nutrition and provide a source of income. In addition, the company's 600 local men and women employees are being mentored to increase their business skills, and Tolaro is investing in technologies to convert cashew shells into a clean-energy fuel source both at its primary processing facility and in the local community. Best practices are being documented and disseminated to further improve farmers technical and professional capacities.

Through all its efforts, Tolaro is supporting an increasing number of women smallholders: in addition to recruiting women farmers, the company is facilitating their enrollment in a training programme focused on nutrition, child and infant care, hygiene, malaria, and finances, which is run by a local NGO, Projects for Progress.

"Tolaro's commitment to inclusive business enables it to strengthen an important sector of agricultural production while advancing several Sustainable Development Goals," said Sabha Sobhani, BCtA's Acting Programme Manager. "We are pleased to welcome the company as a member of the Business Call to Action."

For further information:

Business Call to Action: Tatiana Bessarabova at tatiana.bessarabova@undp.org

Tolaro: Jace Rabe at jace@tolaroglobal.com

Membership in the Business Call to Action does not constitute a partnership with its funding and programme partners, UNDP or any UN agency.

About Business Call to Action (BCtA): Launched at the United Nations in 2008, the Business Call to Action (BCtA) aims to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by challenging companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for both commercial success and development impact. BCtA is a unique multilateral alliance between key donor governments including the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UK Department for International Development, US Agency for International Development, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Finland, and the United Nations Development Programme, which hosts the secretariat. For more information, please visit www.businesscalltoaction.org or on Twitter at @BCtAInitiative.

About Tolaro: At Tolaro Global, our vision is to provide superior cashews and other agricultural foods products to our customers and consumers and use this business platform as a catalyst for economic growth and community development. We simply believe there is a better way to do business, one that is centered on the people and communities that make our company thrive. At Tolaro, we strive to create the best food products for our customers and consumers around the globe by leading in quality, dependability and innovation. And we are committed to improving the quality of life for our employees, our families, our communities and the nations in which we work through. For more information, please visit www.tolaroglobal.com.