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Mondelez International and Peace Corps Team Up to Train Cocoa Entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic

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  Published in House and Home on Wednesday, April 24th 2013 at 4:17 GMT by Market Wire
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Mondelez International and Peace Corps Team Up to Train Cocoa Entrepreneurs in... -- DEERFIELD, Ill., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

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DEERFIELD, Ill., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mondelez International, the world's largest chocolate company with iconic brands such as Milka, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Toblerone and Green & Black's, today announced a three-year partnership with the Peace Corps to promote sustainable development in cocoa-growing communities in the Dominican Republic.  This partnership will expand the Peace Corps' existing Build Your Dreams program, which teaches young women and men aged 16-29 essential skills to help them become the next generation of small business entrepreneurs. 

(Logo: [ http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121003/MM86695LOGO ])

By 2015, the Build Your Dreams program plans to:

• Teach 1,200 young men and women skills to develop and write business plans
• Prepare 360 young men and women with business plans to apply for micro-financing
• Consult with 120 local entrepreneurs on developing their businesses 

"Young entrepreneurs are at the core of thriving farming communities," said Christine M. McGrath , Vice President of External Affairs and Cocoa Life at Mondelez International.  "That's why partnering with the Peace Corps is a natural fit for our Cocoa Life initiative.  Together, we're helping young women and men gain financial management and income-generation skills.  Armed with this new business expertise, these entrepreneurs will be empowered to initiate their own businesses and establish more diversified, stable and inclusive economies."

This collaboration with the Peace Corps builds on Mondelez International's five-year commitment with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to increase the yield and quality of Dominican cocoa, while improving farmer livelihoods and communities.  The program plans to reach 10,000 smallholder cocoa farmers of the CONACADO Fair Trade certified cooperative with training on farming techniques, post-harvest practices and supplemental income opportunities. 

Improving the Lives of One Million People in Cocoa-Farming Communities

The Peace Corps collaboration is the latest project in Mondelez International's Cocoa Life sustainability effort – a $400 million, 10-year commitment to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of more than 200,000 cocoa farmers and about one million people in cocoa farming communities.  This collaboration aligns with Cocoa Life's focus on youth and making cocoa farming a more attractive profession for the next generation. 

Cocoa Life reflects Mondelez International's core values and builds on the company's successful Cocoa Partnership in Ghana and India that expanded to the Dominican Republic in 2011.  It also builds on other well-being commitments, including the company's goal to sustainably source 100 percent of its European coffee by 2015 and its "Coffee Made Happy" initiative to invest at least $200 million to empower one million coffee farming entrepreneurs by 2020.

For more information on Cocoa Life, including downloadable photos and case studies of work in The Dominican Republic, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and India, please visit: [ http://tinyurl.com/atuxhzj ].

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ MDLZ ]) is a global snacking powerhouse, with 2012 revenue of $35 billion.  Creating delicious moments of joy in 165 countries, Mondelez International is a world leader in chocolate, biscuits, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages, with billion-dollar brands such as Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate, Jacobs coffee, LU, Nabisco and Oreo biscuits, Tang powdered beverages and Trident gum. Mondelez International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor's 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit [ www.mondelezinternational.com ] and [ www.facebook.com/mondelezinternational ]. 

SOURCE Mondelez International, Inc.