Annual Report 2023

A woman voicing her opinion in a cooperative meeting

A food systems recipe to cultivate resilience.

Resilience is key for future-proof food systems. For Rikolto, the 3 main ingredients in this recipe for resilient food systems are: sustainable food production, inclusive markets and an enabling environment. We also pay special attention to regenerative agricultural practices, and the empowerment of women and young people is integrated in every aspect of our work.

In our Annual Report 2023, we showcase highlights and lessons learnt revolving around those three ingredients, from our three global programmes: our Sustainable Rice, Sustainable Cocoa and Coffee, and Good Food for Cities programmes.

Listen to our Executive Director Chris Claes, as he presents our Annual Report 2023 and reveals the story behind our cover image in the video below.

Continue reading to explore the summary of our 2023 achievements, or dive straight into our full 2023 Annual Report.

Rikolto team in West Africa

32% are women, 29.5% are young farmers under 35 years. They improved their resilience as a result of better access to services and inclusive trade relationships. We supported 311 farmer organisations, farmer cooperatives and farmer groups in their business development, so they are able to market the products of their members in a professional way, leading to stable incomes for farmers and more sustainable food for consumers.

Rikolto does not only work for a sustainable income for farmers, but also for nutritious, affordable food for all. This figure includes the approximate numbers of citizens who have access to healthy sustainable and nutritious food (vegetables, fruits, rice) through our interventions and the number of cocoa and coffee farmers who produce food crops besides cocoa and coffee as part of our income diversification strategies.

97% of these are buyers for domestic or international markets; yet there are also some processors, schools and public institutions, distribution platforms, service providers and financial institutions. Together, we create innovative ways of accessing, distributing and producing nutritious, quality food, so no one is left behind.

As a result of our support to multi-stakeholder platforms, 60 new initiatives emerged in 2023. Inspiring others to tackle the inter-related challenges of food insecurity, climate change and economic inequality is a crucial part of our strategy to contribute to an enabling environment for sustainable food systems.

Our Good Food for Cities programme

As global food consumption, markets and decision-making centres are concentrated in urban areas, cities play a fundamental role in sparking a shift towards more sustainable food systems. They are laboratories to test new ideas, models and collaborations. Our Good Food for Cities programme approaches urban food systems through a systems-thinking lens, fostering interconnections between actors and collective action mechanisms. We build inclusive business relationships through participatory food governance structures, where we help raise the voice of vulnerable stakeholders By understanding how different areas are connected to each other, we identify levers for systems change. This helps us to navigate difficult trade-offs, such as how to improve access to affordable healthy food, while motivating farmers and food chain workers to adopt more sustainable practices

Farmers reached per country

Explore some of the highlights of our Good Food for Cities programme in 2023.

Neighbourhoods: the ideal food planning laboratories for cities?

The Healthy Food Neighbourhood project implemented from 2021 to 2023 with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC Canada) sought to understand two major food challenges facing metropolitan cities such as Lima (Peru) and Quito (Ecuador), namely unsustainable supply chains and food insecurity. The core hypothesis of the project was that, to improve food availability and access in cities over time, planning needs to be approached at multiple scales, starting from the neighbourhood level. While transforming food systems is a collaborative endeavour, the project demonstrated the essential role of public authorities in guaranteeing the right to food. It also provided guidance on the entry points they can take to make this a reality at neighbourhood level.

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Investing in local markets to nurture safer and more resilient food systems in Mbeya, Tanzania

Recognising the critical role of markets in encouraging the consumption of safer and more nutritious food, Rikolto partnered with MIICO, TCCIA and Mbeya City Council to make Mbeya’s food environments, including its local markets, more conducive to healthy and safer diets. Late 2022, early 2023, an innovative initiative, the Participatory Food Safety System (PFSS), was launched. This is a holistic approach that involves multiple stakeholders in the validation and certification of the safety of products in public markets, fostering a collective commitment to food safety. Over 300 vendors and farmers have been trained so far. But it’s only part of the equation: working with farmers, consumers and young agripreneurs is equally important.

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Our Sustainable Rice programme

Rice is a complex crop. It is a staple food for almost half of the world's population, and a key crop in the fight against food insecurity. It is sensitive to climate variability whilst also having a huge environmental footprint. And it is a politically sensitive crop: on the one hand, governments call for low prices for consumers, while on the other hand, a “good” price needs to be ensured for producers. In between lie the interests of all other actors. At Rikolto, we apply a systems approach to contribute to transforming the rice sector. We work towards decent incomes and working conditions for all actors in the rice sector, a reduced environmental impact of rice, and safe, healthy, quality rice for consumers. To do so, we look at rice farms as an integral part of their landscape. We promote dissemination of sustainable practices following the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard for Rice Cultivation among all value chain actors. We also look beyond rice for value creation and promote diversification through crop rotation and intercropping. We facilitate the development of inclusive business relationships in domestic and regional markets to create more efficient value chains that ultimately benefit consumers. Finally, we facilitate collective action of a wide range of food system stakeholders to steer the development of an enabling environment where best initiatives spread and innovation flourishes.

Farmers reached per country

Explore some of the highlights of our Sustainable Rice programme in 2023.

A guarantee of local, sustainable and high-quality rice for Malian consumers

If there’s one food that people in Mali like to use in their dishes, it’s rice. Unlike in neighbouring countries, Malian consumers prefer local rice, and their demand for organic rice is growing. In response, Rikolto has been supporting the establishment of a local Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) since 2022. The strategic partnership between Rikolto, PNPR-M and IFRIZ played a critical role in advocating for the adoption of PGS and SRP standards at the national level, leading to their inclusion in the government’s forthcoming national strategy to promote agroecology. The next steps?  Strengthening our partnership with research institutions to generate evidence and facilitate new multi-stakeholder processes aimed at scaling up PGS, SRP and inclusive business models in sustainable rice production.

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Indonesia’s SRP national working group: charting the way to a sustainable rice sector in Indonesia

On 31 October 2023, Indonesia’s Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) National Working Group (NWG) was formed by a collaboration between Rikolto, Preferred by Nature and The People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty (KRKP), as well as representatives of relevant private institutions, government and universities. This milestone marks an important step forward in Indonesia’s journey towards a more sustainable rice sector and enhanced food security.

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Our Sustainable Cocoa and Coffee programme

Living incomes for farmers are essential for truly resilient cocoa and coffee farming communities. This requires guaranteed minimum prices, climate-smart and sustainable agricultural practices, access to finance, income diversification strategies and a strong enabling environment. We have moved beyond a value chain approach to a food systems approach, looking not only at cocoa and coffee, but also at the farming systems in which they are grown. We partner with other non-governmental organisations, cooperatives, private companies, financial institutions, and government actors to reach sustainable local food systems that enable thriving cocoa and coffee communities.

Farmers reached per country

Explore some of the highlights of our Sustainable Cocoa and Coffee programme in 2023.

Innovation and diversification: a new era in the DRC’s coffee sector

Rikolto has been investing in innovative diversification initiatives for several years now, allowing coffee cooperatives and their members to build resilience to fluctuating coffee prices, while contributing to environmental conservation and creating new economic opportunities. In the Kivu region for instance, diversification initiatives have resulted in a remarkable increase of over 47% in the incomes of coffee growers; in Ituri, the introduction of dynamic agroforestry systems led to a significant 55% increase in farmers’ annual income. The future? Exploring the potential for roasting, packing and selling 100% Congolese coffee in local shops, and facilitating access to markets for the products grown in diversified coffee farms.

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Youth breaking the mould for a brighter future in cocoa

In 2023, we engaged with over 600 young people in cocoa-producing areas in Cote d’Ivoire, supporting them to set up agricultural service providing units and further develop their marketing, finance and business management skills. 10 SMEs employing 431 young people now provide pruning, spraying and harvesting services. This has alleviated the labour shortages farmers faced, especially during peak seasons, reducing the need to resort to child labour. It has also helped to boost plantation productivity by 20% per hectare. But these and other interventions mean nothing in isolation. By framing them as pieces of a bigger puzzle and sharing them at the International Living Income workshop in Abidjan, we aim to stimulate collaboration among sector stakeholders to scale up these interventions.

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Partnerships

Complex food system problems require complex solutions. That is why, at Rikolto, creating strong partnerships is in our DNA.
Who are our partners, donors, investors?
What is our approach to partnerships?

Our partners

We closely work with cooperatives, civil society organisations, private companies, commodity platforms, government institutions, business service providers, research institutes, knowledge networks and many other food system actors.

Who are the partners we collaborate with?

In 2023, Rikolto financially supported 193 organisations in 18 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, compared to 156 the previous year. 56% of these are farmers’ organisations, as in 2022. Apart from farmer organisations, we also closely work with – and sometimes financially support – local NGOs, commodity platforms, different national and sub-national government institutions, business service providers and/or research institutes.

type of partner organisations
Graph: type of partner organisations involved in our programmes

What is our approach to partnerships?

Engaging in the right collaborations leads us to higher impact and allows us to work on a broader scale. In this playing field, intensive dialogues with a very diverse range of actors allow us to stay in tune with what's happening in the world today. Rikolto’s role in these partnerships is also diverse: from actively contributing evidence from our work on the ground to networks and learning alliances, over facilitating dialogue between different food system actors to bring their interests closer together, to promoting scaling of successful practices and influencing agendas in favour of sustainable and inclusive food systems.

Rikolto team in West Africa

Picture: Layla Aerts

Rikolto is proud of its role as a key partner in SchoolFood4Change (SF4C), a collaborative project funded by the European Union, implemented by a consortium of 43 partners, including 16 European cities, and led by ICLEI Europe. In line with the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this initiative aims to revolutionise school food systems and promote sustainable practices. By harnessing the expertise of diverse stakeholders, SF4C offers innovative solutions tailored to local contexts, impacting up to two million citizens across 12 EU countries, including 600,000 students in 3,000 schools in 16 cities and regions.

Our contribution to the project, particularly in developing the Whole School Food Approach (WSFA) framework, underlines our commitment to holistic, multi-level change. WSFA is an integrated approach. This means that we look not only at the food in schools, but also at food education and policy, as well as the school environment. Putting the WSFA into practice will again require the dedicated collaboration of school staff, cooks, students and all other stakeholders. In 2023, the Rikolto team in Belgium completed the WSFA framework and manual. The manual has been translated into 12 languages and is currently being tested in more than 120 European schools (including 15 schools in Ghent and 5 schools in Leuven). We have also started to explore ways to scale the Whole School Food Approach to other partner cities beyond Europe, leveraging the successes of SchoolFood4Change and fostering internal collaboration.

As we witness the ripple effect of SF4C's impact through collaboration and exchange amongst the partners across Europe, clearly, by working together we can achieve a lasting change that transcends borders and fosters healthier, more sustainable communities for generations to come.

Rikolto's partnership with a consortium of key stakeholders in Benin, including the Belgian development agency Enabel and the Council of Consultation of Rice Growers of Benin (CCRB), is an example of the power of collaboration to drive transformative change. Through its Development of Entrepreneurship in the Agricultural Sectors (DEFIA) programme, Enabel has chosen to focus its support to the rice sector in Benin on consolidating more sustainable and climate-resilient food systems. In addition to supporting the process of agroecological transition, Rikolto and its partners have undertaken actions to consolidate the place of sustainable rice from Benin in local markets - an initiative that is fully in line with Rikolto's commitment to providing people with access to quality, healthy and sustainable products. Thanks to the partnership between Enabel, Rikolto and the CCRB, the Beninese rice sector is becoming more structured and ready to capture new market shares.

Partnerships with impact investors such as Kampani, can have a catalytic effect on smallholder farmers’ incomes and a country’s food security. In Benin, ESOP Vallée is one of six producer and processor associations that Rikolto supports in developing and implementing strategies to promote Beninese agroecological rice. Processors like ESOP Vallée need a guaranteed supply of quality raw materials. The market's development prospects combined with the association’s ambitions would make it possible to offer this market to more than 1,200 farmers by increasing the volumes of paddy processed by ESOP Vallée and diversifying its sources of supply. Rikolto saw the potential and connected ESOP Vallée to Kampani, a social impact investment fund working to unlock the potential of entrepreneurial agriculture in the Global South. A thorough due diligence assessment was conducted in 2023 with a positive outlook for investment in 2024. In Burkina Faso, a country where the heavily import-dependent rice sector represents a major strategic and economic challenge, Rikolto, together with its partner Uneriz (National Union of Parboiling Women), presented the 'franchise business model' to Kampani's investment committee. This model was jointly developed to improve the quality of home-grown parboiled rice, expand production capacity to ensure a consistent supply of high-quality rice, and increase the income of UNERIZ members. However, to maintain its leadership in rice parboiling in Burkina Faso and increase its share of the private market, UNERIZ needs to make its Finishing and Distribution Centre (FDC) operational. This centre is key to refining rice quality before it reaches the market, improving both consistency and higher quality. Kampani has confirmed its investment in the FDC, which is the missing link in the local rice value chain in Burkina Faso.

Through our partnerships with cocoa and coffee cooperatives, Rikolto is committed to co-creating climate-smart solutions that not only strengthen household food security, but also improve business competitiveness in local and global markets. By working closely with these producer cooperatives, we play a key role in shaping their strategic plans to better serve their farmer members. From addressing sustainability challenges to providing critical training, ensuring access to finance and empowering women within the cooperatives, our collaboration touches every aspect of their operations. In the European Union-funded CREA project in Ecuador, for example, we work with a large number of producer cooperatives for which we have conducted SCOPE assessments, resulting in 21 improvement plans that are currently being implemented. We have also worked together in developing a gender strategy to ensure that the benefits of our partnership are shared equally among all members of the cooperatives. In the DR Congo, where nascent cooperatives face barriers to access finance, Rikolto provides practical support by offering cheaper accounting software and strengthening financial and business management skills. Similarly, in Indonesia, where access to international markets can be daunting, we work to improve market performance and facilitate economic opportunities for cooperative members. In Cote d’Ivoire, we are partnering with Enabel since 2023 to drive improvements in cocoa quality and sustainable farming practices among producers and their cooperatives.

Through our partnerships with producer cooperatives, we are not just facilitating the sale of products from farmer to cooperative or from cooperative to market; we are transforming entire communities and landscapes, paving the way for inclusive growth and lasting prosperity.

Who are our donors?

We can count on the support of a wide range of donors, from governments to multilateral organisations, foundations and companies.

A list of all donors funding Rikolto in 2023

We can also count on the support of a loyal base of private donors in Belgium, which we are continuing to build. In 2023, we raised a total of €1,092,731 of private funding for the Rikolto network, compared to €1,673,258 in 2022. We shifted our campaign efforts from one-shot-fundraising to a lead-capture strategy. This strategy results in a steady inflow of new contacts that can grow into loyal donors. We succeed in keeping our donations level relatively steady; however, the direct campaign and event incomes have decreased.

People and Organisation

At Rikolto, innovation is driven by over 200 people worldwide of 20 different nationalities. 50% of our staff works in Africa.

Farmers reached per country

There is a pretty good global balance between men and women (60%-40%), although this is mainly due to a prevalence of female staff in Southeast Asia and Europe. Most of our female colleagues are engaged in operational roles. Globally, we see that only one third of programme-related jobs are held by women. Also for women in leadership we aim to have a 50/50 distribution.

We have a mix of younger and more experienced staff with 3 out of 10 colleagues under age 35.

In general, our turnover is under control (13%) and is mainly related to the end of projects and the start of new ones.

Financial report

Gain an insight into the revenues and expenses in 2023 of the three entities that together form Rikolto: Rikolto International, Rikolto in Belgium and Rikolto Consult.

This report covers the financial activities of three entities: the Belgian Public Interest Foundation Rikolto International s.o.n., Rikolto Belgium v.z.w., and Rikolto Consult. In total, the three entities spent € 19,793,090 in 2023 and received € 20,121,815, resulting in a positive year balance of € 328,725.

Rikolto team in West Africa

Overview of our funding sources and our investments in 2023.

Overview of our expenses in 2023.

  • 87.5% of our expenses are linked to our programme operations.
  • Our three global programmes – Sustainable Rice, Sustainable Cocoa and Coffee, and Good Food for Cities – are at the core of our work. 89.04% of our overall investments were linked to these three global programmes. The remaining 10.95% was directed towards other initiatives within the food system that are not directly aligned with our three main programmes, among which were projects aimed at improving water use efficiency for farming, assisting various agribusiness supply chains in accessing the European market, and introducing interventions in sesame and soya cultivation.

In comparison to 2022, our income for 2023 shows notable changes across various funding sources.

  • Public Funding from Belgium remains our largest revenue source, constituting 42.68% of our total income.
  • Income from multilateral organisations and private companies increased.
  • Revenues from private funding and revenues received from Rikolto Consult decreased.

Read the full 2023 Annual Report

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