Enriching local communities

We support local communities by providing essential facilities and services such as housing, health clinics, schools, and roads. Volunteerism is an integral part of our corporate culture, and our employees are actively engaged in such community projects by making donations in cash and kind, and volunteering their time and skills. We actively support local farming communities in the vicinity of our plantations to help improve welfare and livelihoods. Here are some examples of our projects in Indonesia:

Supporting local orphanages

Our cocoa business supports local orphanages and elderly homes in Makassar, South Sulawesi, where the business is headquartered. Since 2006, our employees have renovated and refurbished three orphanages and one retirement home for the elderly. To provide vital on-going support to these facilities, they continue to make regular monthly visits and donate money, food supplies, and school materials.

Running company clinics

We provide free medical care through company clinics at our oil palm plantations. At Hindoli we run five company clinics that serve around 17,000 patients a year. At Harapan, local doctors make their way to remote Dayak villages to conduct “visiting clinics” and provide medical aid that otherwise would not be available.

Providing access to quality education

In 2012, we established our education foundation, Yayasan Harapan Masa Depan Cerah (YHMDC; in English, Hope for a Brighter Future Foundation) to manage schools and education on our plantation sites. YHMDC funds the building of schools, the expansion of classrooms and teaching facilities, and oversees the running of 43 nationally-accredited schools and teaching facilities.

Ensuring its curriculum adequately prepares students for a globally connected future with the inclusion of English language and character education classes, YHMDC employs 249 teachers across kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools, as well as sponsors government and teacher association programs to improve the competency of teachers and the quality of education in our communities. To date, over 5,000 young Indonesians are schooled by YHMDC.

Building roads and bridges

Local villagers in Desa Tanjung Dalam showing off a brand new bridge built by Cargill employee volunteers.We also build vital transport infrastructure like roads and bridges. For example, to help the village of Desa Tanjung Dalam, a local community in the vicinity of our Hindoli oil palm plantation, our employee volunteers constructed a new bridge across the river adjacent to the village. Now it’s much safer and more convenient for local villagers and their children to cross the river and to journey to and from their homes.