Testimonial back from Araku

A few Livelihoods Fund partners made the trip to Araku and give their testimonial

araku, livelihoods, forest festivalThe celebration of the millionth tree planted with the Project Livelihoods/ Naandi was an opportunity for some Livelihoods partners to discover and appreciate the extent of the work done on the land by local community. Danone was represented by its Executive Vice President Human Resources and chair of the Board of its Ecosystem Fund  and Credit Agricole by Stanislas Pottier, Head of Sustainable Development. They observed and give us their opinions in the following lines.

Murielle.GIF

“The quality of the people, who are committing themselves with passion in the Araku project led by Naandi, generates a high level of trust: they demonstrate great knowledge and experience, are constantly learning and seeking for new solutions, and act as entrepreneurs to make meaningful results happen fast, efficiently, and on a big scale. I have been also able to feel and envision how much Livelihoods is a deep and comprehensive approach for, with and by the farmers”.

Muriel Pénicaud, Executive Vice President Human Resources of Danone, Chair of the Board of the Danone Ecosystem Fund.

Stanislas pottier CA.jpg

“It is one thing to voluntarily offset our carbon emissions, and to do it through development projectscreating carbon credits instead of just buying those on markets. That is Crédit Agricole S.A policy and our investment in the Livelihoods fund is key to that policy. But it is another thing to go and check concretely what it means in the field, and I have been very much impressed by the implementation of the Araku project. The amount of ownership by so many farmers, villages and communities already existing, the global approach adopted by the Naandi foundation and the very simple and flexible solutions found to so numerous little problems and challenges are formidable. It is also very stimulating to envisage how the experience of a bank as involved in agriculture as Crédit Agricole S.A could contribute even more to projects of that kind.”

Stanislas Pottier, Head of Sustainable Development, Crédit Agricole S.A