The roots of Kellogg Company’s supply chain run deep around the world, which is why we take our role as a responsible corporate citizen very seriously.
From our earliest days, Kellogg has been a purpose-driven organization, a company with a heart and soul. Our founder, W.K. Kellogg, was an early conservationist, a leading philanthropist and an original wellbeing visionary. For more than a century, Mr. Kellogg has inspired our philanthropy and sustainability work. That’s why we have always worked hard to ensure that our company and our business practices deliver benefits to people, communities and the planet.
We are committed to upholding and advancing the cause of human rights across our global supply chain, which includes supporting health and safety, protecting land and worker rights, and combatting forced and child labor. One way we manage human rights concerns is by working closely with our suppliers to ensure their operations and supply chains align to our values. And, we hold them accountable to their commitments through screenings, assessments, third-party site audits and providing direct feedback.
We consistently rank in the top tier of stakeholder recognitions such as the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, in which we ranked as the number 1 U.S.-based food company on human rights for 2019, and Know the Chain, where we ranked number 2 in the industry. Here are a few examples of our projects.
Mitigating child labor in Ghana
In September 2018, Kellogg partnered with its cocoa supplier on a pilot program designed to mitigate the risks of child labor in the farming community in Ghana. The project provides educational support to children of cocoa farming families and teacher support to local educators. This includes supplying uniforms, book bags and bicycles for students, as well as solar powered streetlights for the community. As a result, local officials reported seeing positive change in the region as a whole, including a reported increase in school attendance.
Supporting smallholders and women in Ecuador
In Ecuador, Kellogg is helping to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers through training materials that strengthen agricultural practices, increase crop diversification, and develop cocoa and non-cocoa seedling nurseries. The overall goal is to develop smallholder farmers’ resiliency to climate change and support women in the communities through gender empowerment workshops. Through the program, attendees receive access to new crops, improving household income, a key component of improving the economic stability for smallholder farmers, especially women.
Our work to support human rights across our supply chain is part of our Kellogg’s Better Days global purpose platform, where we have committed to help end hunger and create better days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030. For more information on our human rights initiatives, please check out our Corporate Responsibility report.