Moringa Fund Manager visiting Balmed cocoa plantations
The newly established Moringa Partnership Fund is an international investment vehicle focussing on sustainable agriculture business models. The fund is backed by the swiss based Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild, a part of the Edmond de Rothschild Group and the French National Forest Office (ONFI) as technical advisor to the fund. The fund manager Martin Poulsen visited Balmed and the cocoa plantations to learn more about Balmed´s Blockfarming system and the Sierra Leonean cocoa sector.
Successful first round at the 3rd CFC Call For Proposals
Balmed successfully passed the first round of the 3rd Call for Proposals of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). A sitemanager from the Common Fund will be visiting Balmed in January 2014, to see the companies operational structures and discuss further investment options. The Common Fund for Commodities is also the TA (Technical Assistance) Manager of the African Trade and Investment Fund (AATIF). The Balmed Proposal will be presented during the 53rd meeting of the Consultative Committee of the CFC held in Amsterdam.
Balmed plants 400 hectar cocoa in a joint partnership with AMS B.V. under the Private Sector Investment Programme
In a joint partnership with the Dutch Private Sector Investment Programme (PSI) Balmed establish 400 hectar cocoa plantation in close cooperation with the Dutch agriculture firm AMS B.V. as lead implementing agency. The project is a partnership between Theobroma B.V., Capitol Trading Company, Commodity Trading Company and Balmed Holdings, jointly forming AMS B.V. The project outcome will be a 1000 hectar cocoa plantation using the Blockfarming System and 280 youths benefiting from increased income through the sales of cocoa and intercrops.
EU and Sierra Leonean Government launch 16 Million Euro agricultural project in Sierra Leone
In cooperation with the Sierra Leonean Government, the European Union launched a 16 Million Euro agricultural project, Agriculture for Development (A4D) in Sierra Leone. The project mainly focusses on employment creation and sustainable cash crop production aiming cocoa, coffee and cashew. The leading implementing agencies are the german NGO Welthungerhilfe, the Italian Development Cooperation COOPI and the National Research Institution of Greenwich University. Balmed has recently signed a cooperation agreement for planation rehabilitation and establishment of new plantations (Blockfarming) under the A4D project.
