In December 2020, members of the Fanoitra village cooperative, based in Toamasina II, delivered 5.8 tonnes of lychees to the Newrest company, which manages Ambatovy’s canteens. This marks a promising start for collaboration between this Ambatovy subcontractor and producers from the communes of Suburban Toamasina and Fanandrahana, as the company’s demand for fruit will expand to other products this year.

This partnership results from a program set up by Ambatovy in 2019 to support fruit and vegetable producers living around its Tailings Facility in Toamasina II. The objective is essentially to strengthen the production and marketing capacities of the Fanoitra cooperative members and, at the same time, to improve their income. As part of this support, Ambatovy made available to the 35 member households of the Fanoitra cooperative a hundred plastic crates with a capacity of 20kg each, in early February 2021, to facilitate the delivery of products according to the required quality standards.