The Corporate Funding Programme encourages companies to make a financial contribution to sustainable projects in the Southern hemisphere, such as promoting literacy among children working in brickworks in Cambodia, offering micro-credit to women’s groups in Peru, training paramedics in Bangladesh, establishing a water supply in the Sahel region in Senegal, to name but a few.
The NGOs selected by the CFP then vouch for the quality and the follow-up. In this way, they are undertaking together a bona fide and honourable commitment to sustainable development cooperation.
Bwamanda CDI (Bwamanda Centre de Développement Intégral – Integral Development Center) has already been operating in various regions of Congo since 1969 at a local level, based on a complete, futureproof development plan for schools, health centers, support for agriculture, road construction, etc. This integrated approach on both social and economic matters is actually resulting in an improvement of the local population’s living conditions.
As of 2009, Puro will be investing for 3 years in the construction of a coffee production centre in Mawuya, northwest Congo.
This will involve, for instance, purchasing 2 machines for processing the coffee berries: a huller and a pulper. Processing the coffee beans locally means that better quality can be guaranteed and a smaller volume needs to be transported. This will make coffee an even more important harvest crop for local farmers.
Bwamanda CDI supports some 50,000 coffee growers in exporting their production. All this coffee meets the international fair trade criteria and is sold under the Fairtrade/Max Havelaar label. Puro also purchases quality coffee via Bwamanda CDI: 10 % of Puro’s top blend includes carefully grown coffee beans from Congo.
Visit the website of CDI-Bwamanda