Mars Initiates Global Mint Programme to Empower Farmers

Farmers in India produce 80% of the world's supply of mint, according to Tanager, and rely on these crops to provide for their households .

Global food and drink giant Mars has launched a global programme called Shubh Mint, which aims to enhance plant science and support mint farmers and communities.

In the US, Canada and India, mint serves as a specialty crop essential to the livelihoods of over a million farmers.

“Mars launched the project in 2017 to improve the livelihoods of mint farming families in our supply chain (a critical ingredient in Mars brands like Extra, Orbit and Airwaves)," Alastair Child, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars, said on Linkedin.

“In partnership with Tanager, Callisons India, Norex Flavours Private Limited, Dalberg, Institute for Development Impact and GIZ India, the programme has helped train more than 24,000 farmers on how to produce higher yields, enabling them to more than double their income from mint.”

How the Shubh Mint programme boosts sustainability

Mars engages with farms globally to address specific challenges in each location.

AdvanceMint is an initiative launched in 2017 intended to provide a better understanding of agricultural footprints and various social, economic, and environmental challenges.

By 2025, the programme aims to advance mint science, cut water usage by 30% in water-stressed regions and improve smallholder farmer incomes through collaboration with industry experts and suppliers. Mars acknowledges that factors like changing weather, soil health and plant disease are affecting mint production.

To address these issues, Mars is funding research to help plants resist disease, boost yields, adapt to climate conditions, and use water efficiently.

The company has trained more than 20,000 smallholder farmers in planting, irrigation, soil health and intercropping techniques to enhance crop resilience.

In North America, including the US and Canada, the high cost of entry can sometimes make farming difficult. Mars offers annual funding to state mint associations to enable farmers to adopt the best practices for water usage, soil health improvement, and increasing energy efficiency.

Tackling gender inequality

Part of the project focuses on tackling gender inequality and educational disparities. Mars collaborates with Tanager to organise more than 200 self-help groups for women in India, allowing them to connect, access information and learn farming and other livelihood skills.

The company reports engagement with more than 8,000 women, with 4,800 receiving training in:

• Rights and entitlements
• Financial literacy
• Nutrition
• Health
• Sanitation

Additionally, Mars has provided more than 10,000 loans through self-help groups, enabled more than 750 women to grow their own vegetables, and approximately 500 women to acquire basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills.

Alistair continued, "Earlier this year, I got to witness the incredible work of Meenal Bahirwani Arora, Sustainable Sourcing Manager for Mars, to create opportunities for mint farmers and ensure that women are not left behind in their communities in northern India.

"For more than eight years, Meenal has dedicated her time to implementing our Shubh Mint programme. The programme also aims to reduce the structural barriers women face regarding education, finance, and household decision-making agencies.

"Meenal, along with other Mars Associates, has helped to create self-help groups for women that offer a variety of training, including financial management, savings and credit linkages, and access to information about rights and entitlements and an opportunity to connect with other women to encourage and support each other.

"I got to meet with one of these groups during my visit, and hearing about how the programme has transformed their lives, and those of their children, reminded me once again of what makes Mars a special place."

About Tanager

Tanager is an international nonprofit organisation that brings people together to co-create economic and social opportunities with the aim to change lives.

Since 1993, it has been affiliated with other organisations, offering a team of locally based experts and international advisors all working towards the goal of bettering the lives of people in agriculture.

The organisation has increased income for mint farms by 156%, impacting 25,000 farmers. Through partnerships with large companies like Mars, the organisation aims to help millions of people globally.