Where our story begins!
Only 15 crop plants provide 90% of the world’s food intake. Rice, maize and wheat make up 60% of the 15 food crops consumed globally. Similarly, of the over 150 edible nuts identified in the world, only 9 are being consumed. All other possibilities go untapped and remain under-utilised. The lack of crop diversity is resulting in food systems that are not resilient to climate change. Plant-based alternatives to livestock-based food production is key to feeding our growing global population within planetary boundaries. This is where Talmond finds relevance.
Talmond: using minor crops to create major impacts. Where innovation meets tradition.
Talmond is a female-led Ghanaian-based company that is focused on developing the alternative protein landscape in sub-Saharan Africa. By adding value to neglected crops, Talmond is transforming crops under-utilised by our industrialised food production system into delicious, climate-resilient novel foods, whilst creating new value chains in Ghana. Talmond is transforming the climate- and water-resilient neglected tropical almond and fonio grain into novel plant-based dairy milk alternatives into different unique flavours from Ghana for the home and global market, among other product lines. The tropical almond and fonio are considered super foods that are protein-rich, gluten-free, micronutrient-rich, drought tolerant, but largely forgotten. By focusing on minor crops, Talmond is reintroducing them into our everyday food systems, thereby diversifying the plants we eat. This has the potential to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers and turn Ghana and Africa into consumers of its own produce and not just a producer of raw materials.
Our smallholder outgrower scheme: The Tropical Almond Agroforestry Project
Adhering to the best sustainability practices, Talmond operates under a 3-tier strategy to achieve its objectives: the Talmond nursery/nucleus farm scheme, the community collector scheme and the smallholder farmer scheme. These are carefully designed to ensure a continuous supply of tropical almond and fonio grains through systems that promote environmental and ecological biodiversity protection, a stable additional income streams for farmers and communities and guided by a strong data system.
In the tropical almond value chain, we are pioneering a new tropical almond agroforestry industry and we have launched an outgrower smallholder farmer program dubbed: The Tropical Almond Agroforestry Project (TAAP). The smallholder scheme, as at December 2023, was implemented in 3 regions in Ghana involving 7 districts, 54 farmer communities with 492 smallholder farmers. Altogether, the TAAP will plant 42,420 seedlings of tropical almonds in the 2024 planting seasons on 893 acres of farm lands. Similarly, the collector community scheme, which is an interim, stopgap measure to the smallholder program and nucleus farm has over 500 trees across 16 sites in 12 communities in Greater Accra, Eastern, Western and Central Regions in Ghana. These are expected to supply an estimated 17 tons of nuts to Talmond from June 2024.
By 2028, our impacts would cover;
· Sourcing fonio grain from 7.000 women fonio farmers
· 127.800 biomass tropical almond trees planted together with other intercrops to transform 973.5 ha of degraded land into agroforestry
· 21.600 jobs created for women and youth along the tropical almond value chain from farming to aggregation to processing and distribution
· Sourcing tropical almonds from 16.000 tropical almond farmers
· Climate, water & soil protection through tropical almond landscapes using carbon sequestering circular agroforestry principles
Our Success stories
1. 116 varieties of the tropical almond identified with the further selection of 24 elite varieties. This is first ever agronomically organised data on tropical almonds in Ghana.
2. A clearly defined farmer base and communities for the commercial cultivation of the tropical almond in Ghana.
3. The successful pilot of the program in the Bongo Directorate of Education of the Upper East Region could prove that almonds can grow anywhere in Ghana. Goes to show that the tropical almond is a viable reforestation tool for arid and savannah conditions.
4. Talmond has become a platform for unlearning the previously held negative mentality and destruction of the tropical almond.
5. Projecting neglected and under-utilised crops as a viable option for diversifying our food systems.
Outlook for 2024
2024 looks promising for Talmond. It is the year of the commercial planting of tropical almond through our TAAP. The year that we shall procure tropical almonds in commercial quantities from our collector communities. It is the time for production of the first ever fonio milk drink for the Ghanaian and European market. It is a time of greater engagement with our fonio and tropical almond farmers. It is a time of expansion at Talmond.
We invite you to join us on this exciting journey!
Let's diversify our food systems together!
