Annual report 2023
Browse through the summary we prepared for you or go directly to the full 2023 Annual report.
"From 2017 to 2021, Rikolto enabled farmer organisations to register a significant number of new commercial partners, within the private sector (national and international) as well as the public one (local authorities, public services). In addition to brokering partnerships within the food system, Rikolto also adds value through the content it brings to the table to nurture these partnerships (experience, know-how and market studies for instance)."
Global DGD-funded rice programme endline evaluation
In all countries where we ran programmes funded by our biggest donor, the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD), endline evaluations took place under guidance of ADE, to evaluate the results and impact of our 5-year programme.
Download the reports per country
Last year Rikolto financially supported 144 organisations in 16 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, compared to 136 the previous year. Of these, 62% are farmers’ organisations, compared to 55% the year before.
This change reflects our programme strategy: since we want to fix food systems, we also closely work with - and sometimes financially support - local NGOs, commodity platforms, different national and local government institutions, business service providers or research institutes. Moreover, we include investors and social lenders and private companies in our interventions. But our end goal remains the same: our interventions always benefit the farming communities and end consumers.
Constant consultation and dialogue with our multiple stakeholders is part of Rikolto’s DNA.
In 2021, we worked with a total of 206 farmer organisations, farmer cooperatives or farmer groups. 198 of them are supported in their business development; the remaining ones are national-level farmer unions or federations with whom we focus on advocacy work. Not all of these receive funding: we sometimes only give specific advice or provide trainings.
22 of the farmer organisations we work with are certified ‘organic’, 16 organisations are Fair Trade certified, 4 are UTZ certified, and 6 Global GAP.
We support farmer organisations in their business development, so that they are able to market the products of their members in a professional way, leading to stable incomes for farmers and more sustainable food available for consumers. Since 2018 we also keep track of the quantities of the main commodities sold collectively through a farmer organisation, cooperative or another collective action mechanism. Besides the collective sales (figures in the table below), farmers may well use part of their produce for own consumption or sell it individually through intermediaries.
Most of our interventions directly target members of farmers’ organisations. Globally, 104,217 farmers (67,975 men and 36,242 women) received Rikolto’s support in 2021, compared to 109,156 farmers in 2020. The end of the first phase of a big World Bank-funded programme for the rice sector is the main reason for the decrease compared to 2020. However, a second phase of this programme will be launched in 2022.
In many cases, more farmers benefit from our interventions as it is an inherent part of our strategy to achieve policy changes within companies, at commodity sector level and in national legislation, and to encourage other organisations and governments to replicate successful experiences on a much larger scale.
There is still a big gender gap when we look at the farmers we directly support through their organisations. 64% of the members of the farmers’ organisations we work with are men. In 2020, this was 62.5%. Women are hit hard by the pandemic. In East Africa for instance, many women do not own land for farming, but hire it. As a result of the limited cross-border trade due to the pandemic, most farmers had to sell their crops at lower prices than usual in 2020 on local markets that were already flooded with crops due to the closure of the tourist industry. This significantly affected farmer income, and particularly the ability of women to hire lands in 2021 to continue to produce. To tackle gender equality and equity, we started adopting our lobal Gender Inclusion Strategy in the design of the new programmes in 2021.
Overall, Rikolto also pays special attention to increased participation of young people in farmer organisations governance, and to finding new job opportunities for them throughout the value chain. They are, after all, the future of our food systems. 26,290 members of the farmer organisations we work with, i.e. 25%, are younger than 35 years. In addition, in 2021, we had very specific interventions targeting 1,882 young people as entrepreneurs, versus 567 in 2020. 643 of these 1,882 aspiring young entrepreneurs are women and 977 are men.
In many cases, more farmers benefit from our interventions as it is an inherent part of our strategy to achieve policy changes within companies, at commodity sector level and in national legislation, and to encourage other organisations and governments to replicate successful experiences on a much larger scale.
There is still a big gender gap when we look at the farmers we directly support through their organisations. 64% of the members of the farmers’ organisations we work with are men. In 2020, this was 62.5%. Women are hit hard by the pandemic. In East Africa for instance, many women do not own land for farming, but hire it. As a result of the limited cross-border trade due to the pandemic, most farmers had to sell their crops at lower prices than usual in 2020 on local markets that were already flooded with crops due to the closure of the tourist industry. This significantly affected farmer income, and particularly the ability of women to hire lands in 2021 to continue to produce. To tackle gender equality and equity, we started adopting our global Gender Inclusion Strategy in the design of the new programmes in 2021.
Overall, Rikolto also pays special attention to increased participation of young people in farmer organisations governance, and to finding new job opportunities for them throughout the value chain. They are, after all, the future of our food systems. 26,290 members of the farmer organisations we work with, i.e. 25%, are younger than 35 years. In addition, in 2021, we had very specific interventions targeting 1,882 young people as entrepreneurs, versus 567 in 2020. 643 of these 1,882 aspiring young entrepreneurs are women and 977 are men.
Rikolto worked with a total of 206 farmer organisations, farmer cooperatives or farmer groups. 198 of them are supported in their business development; the remaining ones are national-level farmer unions or federations with whom we focus on advocacy work. Not all of these receive funding: we sometimes only give specific advice or provide trainings.
Globally, 104,217 farmers (67,975 men and 36,242 women) received Rikolto’s support.
22 of the farmer organisations Rikolto works with are certified ‘organic’, 16 organisations are Fair Trade certified, 4 are UTZ certified, and 6 Global GAP.
There is still a gender gap when we look at the farmers we directly support through their organisations. 64% of the members of the farmers’ organisations we work with are men. In 2020, this was 62.5%. Women are hit hard by the pandemic. To tackle gender equality and equity, Rikolto started adopting its Global Gender Inclusion Strategy in the design of the new programmes in 2021.
Download Rikolto's Global Gender Inclusion Strategy
Our Planning, Learning and Accountability (PLA) system provides a framework for the systematic collection of data and the use of this data for continuous programme adjustments. PLA also seeks to stimulate critical reflection internally, among colleagues working in similar interventions across the globe and with external stakeholders.
How we measure impact
Up until the edition of 2019, Rikolto drafted its Annual Report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). As part of our new strategy development for 2022-2026, we undertook an external stakeholder consultation in January 2021. 37 stakeholders representing funders, private companies, farmer cooperatives, sector platforms, city governments, investors etc. from all regions we are active in provided their feedback on our new strategy, our data and reporting system and the Annual Report specifically. The aim hereof was a new list of ‘material’ aspects Rikolto would report on, in line with the GRI standard.
However, the external stakeholder consultation has shown us that the large majority of our stakeholders do not consider the GRI standard as an added value for organisations like Rikolto. For this reason, we have decided to abandon the GRI standard in our annual reporting. We remain committed to transparency and integrity and see this as an opportunity to improve and innovate our reporting practices, specifically as we start implementing our new strategy.
What are we looking for?
Partners that can fill in the gaps in fields where Rikolto doesn’t have the specific expertise (e.g., nutrition, climate change mitigation, biodiversity protection, consumer engagement…) but that are equally important for achieving our mission: a sustainable income for farmers and nutritious, affordable food for everyone. This type of collaborations will open up new opportunities for Rikolto to amplify its voice.
What do we offer?
Towards our new (structural) donors we want to offer value: investment-ready programme ideas that align with the donor’s ambitions (e.g., locally relevant economic development, evidence for living income generation for cocoa and coffee farmers; sustainable rice transformation); a trustworthy programme implementation making sure that granted or invested resources are efficiently and correctly spent, and, of course, proven and demonstrated impact through our close connection to the field.
In 2021, we collaborated with Connective Impact to identify and contact leaders within around 50 different donor and partner organisations as part of a process to seek long-term strategic partners and funding for Rikolto’s programmes.
Private companies are important partners in the accomplishment of Rikolto’s mission. If we wish to change food systems and how specific agricultural value chains function, we have to team up with companies. We believe that companies are a driving force for society, and that they are essential to achieve sustainable food systems.
We also partner with some of the below-mentioned companies in multi-actor platforms, such as the Global Coffee Platform, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), the Sustainable Rice Platform, Beyond Chocolate, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), the Living Income Community of Practice, AMEA, … to jointly formulate policy proposals.
Finally, Rikolto also connects its local partners with social impact investors willing to take risks and share our vision of fair business, long-term income security for farmers and guaranteeing a stable demand for their products. Access to commercial financing (loans, investments…) for the small and growing businesses we work with is crucial for them to be able to invest in improving processes, quality, or infrastructure.
Rikolto believes in dialogue as an essential tool for change. For example, in our Good Food for Cities Programme we facilitate urban/peri-urban multi-actor platforms with direct participation of the city authorities. Together we formulate strategies and action plans to create a local food policy. At national level we partner with governmental actors, where we contribute to the development of new policies, based on our experience from the field. This way we want to create enabling environments for specific value chains or for innovations in the food system.
Governments also support our programmes financially. The Belgian Development Cooperation is our main funder (DGD, but also Enabel); the Swiss, Dutch, Canadian and Australian governments are also among our funders. In some cases, we are sub-contracted by a local or national government for specific actions for which our added value is recognised.
At the same time, we also gaining foothold with the EU as a major donor and we intensified our relationship even more with multilateral agencies like UN Environment and the FAO. We consider these institutions as our allies and partners on the path towards sustainable food systems.
In July 2021, Rikolto also joined the RUAF Global partnership with the aim to increase our impact on transforming food systems and support each other to achieve common goals.
In 2021, we worked with:
In 2021 we were financially supported by Belgian private companies UMICORE,Aperam, Mathieu Gijbels NV and Sioen Industries through the Belgian associationEntrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO). With OVO and its private company members, Rikolto’s relationship is also gradually evolving from grant-making to impact-investing. Thanks to a loan from Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO) in 2021, entrepreneur Leonard Shayo in Tanzania could kickstart the production of pre-cooked beans inTanzania. Financing comes from several business angels who volunteer at OVO as wellas from its Acceleration Fund.
Partnering with like-minded organisations: working in synergy
We have also strengthened our relationships with other international development actors and research institutes, such as Lutherian World Relief (LWR), NCBA-Clusa, Technoserve, Preferred by Nature, Rainforest Alliance, Solidaridad, IDH, Africa Rice Center, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, KULeuven and University of Ghent, …
As part of our initiative to seek long-term, mutually enforcing, strategic partnerships we also had fruitful discussions with organisations like DAI, Corus, Gain, Tetra Tech,Tropical, Landscape Finance Facility, Asian Development Bank, International Trade Center, Farmers Voice, …
In the framework of the new Belgian Development Cooperation funded programmes 2022-2026, Rikolto has taken the lead in formulating a comprehensive Joint Strategic Framework between Belgian Non-Governmental development actors both for Tanzania and for Ecuador. This has enabled us to get a thorough understanding of potential areas for collaboration and synergies between BNGAs. Moreover, together with 3 other Belgian NGOs (Iles de Paix, Trias and Bos+) we have agreed on a common objective to support the transformation of the food system in the Arusha region in Tanzania, where we will ensure geographical complementarity and efficiency of our respective activities.
Rikolto also worked together with the associations of cities and municipalities of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels and Echos Communication to formulate a thematic joint strategic framework on Sustainable Cities. It allows us to further engage in cooperation - not only within certain countries, but also supranationally and around ‘overarching’ themes such as urbanisation, governance, and decentralisation - and to work with other Belgian actors around themes like health, water, agriculture, children’s rights or education within a context of local governance and urbanisation.
Private foundations have a strongly value-driven mission. Therefore, it is very enriching to be able to work with them when we see strong similarities between both our missions and values. Rikolto has the honour of collaborating with and receiving funds from
2021 was a year of new beginnings for Rikolto’s private fundraising department.
The pandemic forced us to rethink all our private fundraising operations: from the annual campaign (a tradition of 40 years) to Rikolto Run and Classics. For the first time in four decades, no Rikolto-volunteers were found in Belgian supermarkets or on the streets to sell gadgets in the second week of January. We chose new paths. Re-inventing is a great challenge, and this is reflected in the private fundraising result.
In 2021, our income from private fundraising rose to €1,876,356, as compared to €1,382,618 in 2020. While we did better than in 2020, this is largely due to bequests. But our donors showed us their loyalty. In the new version of the annual campaign we managed to find also a lot of new supporters. In 2021, we welcomed 2873 new donors supporting our cause. This is the highest number of new donors in our database in over five years.
We will invest in the relationship with them and our volunteers, ambassadors and supporters. We thank them for supporting us in these challenging times; the individuals, youth organisations, companies, local authorities and schools that want to be part of the solution.
At the end of 2020 we launched an alternative campaign in Flanders. Rikolto-spoons were no longer sold at supermarkets or in other public places. Instead, they were used as a symbol for ‘Good Food’ and a call for support at the same time. We asked our support base to spread our message by spreading spoons in their own network. They could order a set of spoons and pass on the box from one person to the other, calling for support for our cause: the right to good food all over the world.
We wanted to reach everyone with our message. Apart from our financial objectives, our annual campaign is to raise awareness. Good Food is a right – the slogan of this campaign – was heard throughout Flanders. Because we couldn’t bring our volunteers (ambassadors) on the streets, we brought our message to the media.
Just as in 2020, no Rikolto Bike Classics took place in 2021. Some bikers decided to cancel their Classic, others hope to still ride theirs in 2022. We challenged them and other sportive supporters to participate in a new challenge: Rikolto’s #aroundtheworld.
We challenged individuals and teams to walk, run, ride, … a number of kilometres of their choice. 76 teams took on the challenge and raised €99,033 for Rikolto.
Together they went more than 2 times around the world. For the first time, we had participants outside of Belgium. For example, the Rikolto team in East Africa helped in making this first #aroundtheworld a historical campaign.
We were included in the legacy of 5 people in 2021. Together, these legacies represent 51% of the total amount of private funds raised for Rikolto in 2021.
We are moved and honoured by this exceptional gesture of these private donors.
The pandemic brought a wave of solidarity in 2020. In addition, donors were encouraged by the Belgian governments exceptional tax relief (60% instead of 45% on donations to an NGO). This measure was not resumed in 2021. For this (and other reasons) the donations made by our private donors went back to the level of 2019).
In 2021, we could count on 6,209 occasional donors and 1,953 structural donors). Over 14% of new donors encountered in the annual campaign have made a second (or more) new donation since.
Investing in our Donor Relation Management is crucial to optimise our private fundraising. In 2021 we started to explore new ways to manage our contacts and build customer journeys that fit the needs of our donor profiles. At the end of 2021 we started to build a new CRM/marketing tool in Microsoft Dynamics. We hope to start working with it as of June 2022.In this way we hope to build strong and loyal relationships with our donors and support base.
Rikolto Limited (Rikolto b.v.) is a limited liability company, established by Rikolto International s.o.n. and Rikolto Belgium v.z.w. Rikolto Limited was set up to scale the methodologies, methods and tools developed by the Rikolto family in its programmes. Its activities are financed by commercial contracts with third parties who seek its consultancy and advisory services, and all proceeds go to Rikolto International s.o.n. and Rikolto Belgium v.z.w. Through Rikolto Limited, additional funds can be accessed to finance our staff’s expenses worldwide.
In 2021, Rikolto Limited realised a total turnover of € 180,215. After deduction of operational costs, €85,447 in wage support for Rikolto International s.o.n. and € 18,185 in wage support for Rikolto Belgium v.z.w., Rikolto Limited is left with € 24,780 in profit before taxes.
In 2022, Rikolto Limited’s target is to grow towards a turnover of € 800,000 to further contribute to the objectives and financing of Rikolto’s global mission and vision.
Rikolto is committed to clearly and transparently communicating with all its partners and donors on how we spend our resources. We make our information accessible through:
Apart from the above, Rikolto endorses the Donor Bill of Rights, and we work with the following initiatives on transparency and accountability in Belgium: Belgian Association for Ethical Fundraising, Donorinfo.be (a private initiative), Goede Doelen (King Baudoin Foundation) and X-Bank (Belgian NGO-federation). Those websites publish the audited figures of Rikolto Belgium vzw. In this annual report we show you also the consolidated figures for the worldwide Rikolto group (Rikolto Belgium vzw and Rikolto International s.o.n). As accountability, transparency and qualitative reporting are key to Rikolto, checking the adherence to global financial reporting standards and quality control will continue to be the responsibility of the Global Finance Support Team.
Rikolto uses personal contact data for administrative purposes and to inform people about our activities. We take the privacy of our donors very seriously and want to be 100% transparent about what we do with personal data. In 2020, we continued working on transparent workflows and elaborated (and updated) our privacy policy. The need for a user-oriented preference centre became more and more immanent. This project is currently in the hands of the privacy taskforce. This privacy taskforce also looks at possible data breaches and ways to upgrade our data management to ensure compliance with the European privacy legislation (GDPR).
We did not receive any formal complaints in 2021 through the GBA (Belgian Authority for Data Protection). The individual complaints, questions and recommendations we received via our own channels form the basis of workflow improvements and are all taken up by the privacy taskforce.
Since 2018, we have a clear internal policy to manage the ethical risks associated with partnering with and receiving funds from companies, corporate foundations and government actors. Moreover, in 2019 our International Board of Directors approved an organisation-wide Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. These shared values and principles apply to all employees, volunteers, interns and third-party entities such as consultants, partners and donors. You can read them here.
In 2021, Rikolto had 170 employees worldwide, which is less than in 2020 (196). This is mainly due to the ending of a big programme in DR Congo. Several years ago, men were clearly in the majority in the organisation. In 2021, 47 % of our staff were women, slightly more than the 45% in 2020. There remains a difference between our offices in Belgium, Asia and Latin America on the one hand, and West Africa, East Africa and DR Congo on the other hand. In the last group, proportionately many more men are employed, whereas there are more women on board in the first group.
In 2016, Rikolto’s organisational and governance structure underwent a complete makeover and we became an international network organisation. Rikolto has three legal entities: the Belgian Public Interest Foundation Rikolto International s.o.n., Rikolto Belgium v.z.w. (previously Vredeseilanden v.z.w.), and Rikolto b.v., an enterprise with limited liability. You can read more about these legal entities in the chapter on Governance.
This report covers the financial activities of the three entities. The focus in this chapter is on the analytical presentation of the consolidated financial statements, i.e. following the structure of the international network organisation. In the Annual Reports of the previous years, we only consolidated the figures of Rikolto International s.o.n. and Rikolto Belgium v.z.w. Now, for the first time, we are including Rikolto Limited in this consolidation
The following principles guide our decisions as to whether airtravel is absolutely required or not:
In 2021, our air travels increased as compared to 2020, but airtravels were still lower than pre-COVID.
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As in previous years, the number of flights is highest for Indonesia, due to the country’s geography limiting other travel possibilities. With the exception of Vietnam and the DR Congo, air flights have gone up again in our other regions but are still significantly lower than pre-covid. This is due to a combination of covid restrictions that remained in place in the course of 2021, and specifically in DR Congo also due to the drop in airfares because of the volcanic eruption and covid, which pushed some companies to stop their traffic for a long period. Additionally, ICT literacy and ICT infrastructure have improved among colleagues andpartners, decreasing to a certain extent the need for flights.
For 2021, the total amount of 316,241 kg of CO2 equals a carbon compensation of €8,956. It was decided to pool this amount together with the carbon offsetting funds of 2020, i.e. €4,276, to be able to make a more meaningful investment. As such, the combined amount of €13,232 isinvested into Rikolto’s Innovation Fund. The selection ofthe project funded with this amount will take place after the publication of the annual report and will be reported on next year.