Davao City, 19th of July 2024
Kennemer is an inclusive business that adopts a holistic approach to addressing the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of agricultural operations. Our value chain includes farming, smallholder growership, financing, input production, processing, trading and distribution. Kennemer is dedicated to bringing systemic change to some of the most remote areas of the Philippines, especially Mindanao, with the mission to build sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems through a holistic landscape approach:
- Since 2011, Kennemer has supported more than 20,000 farmers across Mindanao to increase their cacao production, plant new crops including cacao, bananas and fruit trees, and through that, increase and diversify income.
- Kennemer initiated the Philippines’ first nature-based solutions project, which received international accreditation on the voluntary carbon market for planting cacao-based agroforestry systems with 2,000 smallholder farmers in 2022. Through this approach, farmers and communities improve their resilience to climate change while at the same time improving their income and livelihoods.
- Jointly with Agronomika Finance, we also provide microfinance services to women through barangay livelihood centers across Luzon and Mindanao. Participating women and their families receive access to financial and technical support to build their livelihoods and uplift themselves.
The Philippine Government, through the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), has invited Kennemer to partner in developing a project area located within SPDA land in Barangay Sumugot, Municipality of Amai Manabilang, Lanao del Sur, within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the Philippines. The objective is to bring economic growth and prosperity such as increased employment opportunities to this underdeveloped area of the Philippines through inclusive and sustainable agricultural production.
In July 2024, Kennemer received a letter related to this project with SPDA raising a series of allegations against the project. We would like to assure the public and everyone concerned that Kennemer has never acted in the manner the accusations in this letter suggest.
Kennemer, together with the SPDA and the local government, has engaged in comprehensive stakeholder engagement from the beginning of the project and works closely with local communities present. Throughout the project preparation and implementation, Kennemer has strictly adhered to international environmental, social, and corporate governance standards, as well as national and local laws and practices.
We, as Kennemer, are highly appreciative of the opportunity given to us by the SPDA to contribute to peace and inclusive economic growth in the BARMM region and we very much hope to continue supporting this process further in the future.
Should you have any further clarification needs on this matter, please do not hesitate to reach out to us via support@kennemer.ph.
Kennemer Management
