Community Engagement
Cargill invests in local communities through economic development, partnerships and giving combined with the volunteer efforts of our employees. Cargill provides corporate support to select national and global nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that serve communities in which we have a business presence. We support partners working within our focus areas of food security, nutrition, and sustainability. And, our businesses and facilities sponsor employee-led groups, called Cargill Cares Councils, which support civic and non-profit organizations in their local communities.
Cargill Cares Councils seek to recognize issues important to our communities; build effective relationships with community leaders; and work to help improve living standards and promote vibrant, stable communities.
Local Activities
As one of our core values is integrity, we strive to be a responsible corporate citizen by taking great care for the land, people, and communities where we live and operate. We are striving to be a good corporate citizen of Thailand. Our businesses and people are actively engaged in giving back to the communities where we live, work and do business. Our corporate responsibility projects help to address a range of economic and social challenges in Thailand’s rural areas.
Enriching Local Communities
We help to promote community development, foster education, and improve nutrition. Our activities include:
- Granting over 1,500 scholarships to children in communities.
- Establishing community's libraries for lifelong learning of everyone in communities.
- Building libraries and playgrounds, as well as providing school supplies, including books, stationeries and sports equipment for needful local schools.
- Providing support to local orphanages, as well as homes for the elderly.
- 50,000 farmers per year are trained for animal nutrition knowledge.
- Project to create careers for people with disabilities and their caregivers.
Cargill Cares Healthy School Lunch
Cargill Cares Healthy School Lunch program consists of three core projects aimed at enhancing food and nutrition security and raising awareness on social responsibility for child nutrition.
Our signature School Lunch program provides chicken and eggs to local schools weekly. The program supports over 1,300 students in 14 schools, providing a healthy protein lunch every day or approx. 420,000 meals annually.
In addition, we collaborate with a local university to roll out an Agriculture for Lunch Program to provide nutrition awareness activities as well as supply materials for modern agriculture for students at 32 local schools in need. The activities include hydroponic farming, mushroom farming, chicken and fish farming.
Recently, we have partnered with Save the Children Thailand to form ’50 Healthy Schools’ – a program to promote nutrition awareness, healthy eating and active playing, providing support to over 5,000 children.
Cargill Cares House for Community
Cargill and Habitat for Humanity Thailand have been working in collaboration for 18 years to enrich the lives of local communities. Considered home is the foundation of healthy and stable community, the partnership aims to improve quality of life and provide needy families a pleasant and hygiene home.
Today, the project has constructed 147 houses for various communities across the country, especially those in the central and northeastern regions, helping over 1,000 communities. The activity is joined by executives, employees, business partners, people in communities and local government organizations to create value and benefits for many sectors in the society.
Supporting economic of communities
Cargill Meats Thailand purchases rice for staff meals directly from local farmers at a price that ensures them a sustainable income.
In addition, we are providing economic opportunities to communities around our plants by buying community products such as chili paste and Thai desserts for selling at our staff canteen. This initiative helps increase the monthly income per household at 17,000 baht ($555) approximately.
Cargill Cares School in Plant
Since 1992, we have arranged “School in Plant” program in partnership with the Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education, Ministry of Education. The program provides opportunity for employees who do not complete basic education to participate the classroom after work and receive the high school academic certificate after completing the course.
More than 2,000 employees have participated in the program in which 20 of them were promoted to supervisor level.
Water resources development and planting trees activity
Cargill recognizes the importance of water resources around our facilities. We are implementing development projects to improve quality of water resource and increase the supply of water to agricultural activities covering 40 local households. The key projects are to identify farmers who can use released water from treatment factory for their agricultural activities and to remove the water hyacinths or floating aquatic weeds in the local canals that block the water flow to farms. Also, we arrange planting trees activity in partnership with local communities.
Providing Clean Drinking Water for School Children
We are providing annually the clean drinking water system project to the community through Cargill Cares. Purpose for teacher, students and villagers can access daily of clean & safe water instead of rainwater or cement tank water which many children in rural Thailand have no much choice to avoid poorly treated water at their schools. We installed water filter system for 159 units accumulate 10 years from to the schools nearby our locations, benefit over 60,000 people who have healthier and better-living within 8 years.
Creating careers for people with disabilities and their caregivers
Since 2019, we provide disabled people and their caregivers with agricultural business opportunity such as animal husbandry, chicken and cattle farming as well as hydroponic vegetable and mushroom farming. The program benefits more than 70 families per year providing income to those in need.