03
SUSTAINABLE EMEA ISSUE 03/17
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
EUROPE / MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
EBH NAMIBIA OSERIAN GREENWAY FARMS ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE
FERNEY SPINNING MILLS • SWADE
S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SUSTAINING TOMORROW. TODAY www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
Sustainable Business Magazine is committed to promoting sustainable printing. This magazine is printed on Forest Stewardship Council certified material and manufactured using environmentally sustainable procedures. All lithographic printer inks used are vegetable-based.
SBM Media Ltd - Henderson Business Centre, 51 Ivy Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 8BF, United Kingdom • T: +44 (0)1603 516519 Email: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
Editor:
Fiona FitzGerald
Assistant Editor:
George Newell
Senior Writer:
Marcus Bonnano
Profile Writer:
R.C. Smith
Commercial Manager: Graeme Watts Web Administrator: Steve Phipps
EUROPE / MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
CONTENTS ISSUE 03/17
Welcome to a special African edition of Sustainable Business Magazine, and the latest issue of our Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Magazine. Sustainable Business Magazine aims to spread awareness of the values of sustainability, as well as the brilliant ways in which organizations continue to meet challenges and champion corporate social responsibility. Hannes Uys, Chief Executive Officer of Elgin Brown & Hamer Namibia (EBH Namibia), spoke to us about a world-class new floating dock, protecting employees, and giving back to the community. This edition features a focus on sustainable African agriculture: In Kenya, we once again spoke to Hamish Ker, Technical Director at Oserian Development Company Ltd, Kenya’s largest flower producer, about Brexit, improving efficiency, and pursuing carbon neutrality. In South Africa we spoke to Vito Rugani, Managing Director at Greenway Farms, about challenging paradigms, byproduct utilization, and investments in sustainability. Finally, in Swaziland we spoke to Samson Sithole, CEO of Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE), about empowering smallholder farmers to succeed in commercial agriculture.
02
EBH Namibia
10
Oserian Development
Company Ltd.
16
Greenway Farms
22
Swaziland Water and
Agricultural Development
Enterprise (SWADE)
26
Ferney Spinning Mills
32
Global Events
33
Advertisers Index
To conclude this edition, we spoke to Mushtaq Sooltangos, Managing Director of Ferney Spinning Mills in Mauritius, about reducing water consumption, training new talent, and maintaining world-class quality. Details of upcoming sustainability events in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa throughout October and November can be found on our events calendar. This edition’s featured event is Power & Electricity World Africa 2018, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary and will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 27-28 2018. The show is Africa’s largest and longest running power and electricity show and welcomes over 8000 attendees. Further details can be found on our back cover. For more information, or to view previous editions, please visit www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net We hope that you find this issue both interesting and inspiring. Thank you for reading. The Sustainable Business Magazine Team
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE COVER IMAGE: IMAGE OF EBH NAMIBIA’S WALVIS BAY. IMAGE PROVIDED BY KENDAL HUNT COMMUNICATIONS.
© SBM Media Ltd 2017. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|1
EBH NAMIBIA
“OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ETHIC HAS ALWAYS BEEN PROACTIVELY FOCUSED ON POLLUTION PREVENTION AND ADHERING TO ALL GOVERNING PORT REGULATIONS.”
FIRST CHOICE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Hannes Uys, Chief Executive Officer of EBH Namibia, about their world-class floating dock facilities, protecting employees, and giving back to the community.
2 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
WITH ITS 3 PRIVATELY-OWNED FLOATING DOCKS, WELLEQUIPPED ON-SITE WORKSHOPS AND HIGHLY SKILLED TRADE PROFESSIONALS, EBH NAMIBIA IS WELL ON ITS WAY TO FULFILLING ITS VISION: TO BE THE PREFERRED WORLD-CLASS MARINE REPAIR SOLUTION IN AFRICA.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|3
EBH NAMIBIA
Elgin Brown & Hamer Namibia (EBH Namibia) is a shipyard in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Founded in 2006 as a partnership between the Namibian government and the private sector, the shipyard was established with the specific intention of boosting the growth of the local economy and creating Namibian jobs in the Walvis Bay area. Since gaining independence in 1990, Namibia has enjoyed economic and political stability, peace and security. This has been a critical factor both in the growth and success of
4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
EBH Namibia, and in Namibia’s own sustained economic growth. The EBH Namibia shipyard consists of three floating docks with a combined lifting capacity of 30,000 tons, seven cranes and fully-equipped fabrication workshops on-site. Its location in Walvis Bay places it close to the Western African oil fields and to principal shipping routes. “We’re committed to offering safe, quality, and reliable services and facilities; as well as innovative solutions, to our clients,” says Hannes Uys,
CEO of EBH Namibia. “We have worldclass facilities, well-equipped workshops, a stable workforce, a commendable safety record, and a reputation for only the highest ethical standards. All this, along with our exclusive facilities, holistic and customer-centric approach, and our overall dedication to service and reliability, has made us the first choice of many of the world’s leading shipping companies.” FLOATING DRY DOCK In 2011, the company identified a need to increase docking capacity in order to cater to a broader spectrum of vessels and ease over-capacity; and the decision was made to purchase a third floating dock. Namdock III, procured from Forgacs in Australia in 2012, spent five months being refurbished in Batam, Indonesia, and arrived at EBH Namibia in mid-2013. The new 195-metre long Panamax dock increased the company’s dry docking capacity by 15,000 tons, allowing EBH Namibia to service vessels
EBH NAMIBIA’S STRONG SAFETY ETHOS INCLUDES A COMMITMENT TO PROVIDING A SAFE PLACE OF WORK FOR ITS EMPLOYEES.
up to 190 metres in length and 33 metres in beam. “We saw this as a great opportunity to upgrade our facilities and equipment,” says Mr. Uys. “The additional capacity has given us the opportunity to expand our customer base and seek new market opportunities. The acquisition of this dock has ensured the continuance of the effective and consistent service which has become synonymous with our brand. Our long-term goal is to ensure sustainable, organic growth while generating more value to all stakeholders, and we see the procurement and commissioning of Namdock III as being in line with this objective.”
ited shipyard. For us, the OHSAS standard provides a framework in which to identify inherent health and safety risks more accurately and proactively. The standard reduces the potential for accidents, ensures legal compliance, and improves our overall operational performance.” These accreditations place the company in a stronger position to respond proactively to any potential risk, and to eliminate hazardous situations. “Optimal and effective risk management helps prevent unscheduled costs, and it’s an effective way of proactively maintaining staff health, eliminating absenteeism, and reducing staff turnover, while also boosting overall morale,” says Mr. Uys. “Adhering to OHSAS standards helps us identify where certain skills might be lacking. Ensuring that on-site staff are fully qualified eliminates incidents and avoidable accidents. We view our uncompromising attitude towards health and safety as something which strengthens our position as a market leader, as it boosts
a company’s reputation, strengthens our brand, and enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.” EMPLOYEE FOCUS Employee empowerment is a top priority for EBH Namibia. “Our guiding value slogans are: One team, one goal, customer commitment, leadership, continuous learning, and striving for excellence,” says Mr. Uys. “When an employee achieves excellent performance at work and it is felt that this person embodies our value system, we have an ‘Employee of the Month’ system to recognize them. We also hold regular sessions to promote team building, and we often send employees to represent us locally and internationally at industry-related exhibitions.” The company also has several staff development programs. “We emphasize local job creation,” says Mr. Uys. “We have a focus on continuous in-house and external training initiatives, with the aim of uplifting
EBH NAMIBIA’S OPERATES THREE FLOATING DRY DOCKS WITH A COMBINED LIFTING CAPACITY OF 30,000 TONS.
EBH NAMIBIA OPERATIONAL ZONE. FLOATING DOCKS WITH ALONGSIDE BERTHING TO ENABLE IN-WATER REPAIRS.
SAFE OPERATIONS Safety is an essential part of EBH Namibia’s business, and is fully integrated throughout their management systems. “We view our focus on safety as one of our competitive advantages,” says Mr. Uys. “EBH Namibia is an ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001-accredSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|5
Services Workshop – Walvis Bay, Namibia Customer support in Africa Your local service representative for all Rolls-Royce Marine Equipment
Rolls-Royce Walvis Bay Workshop Telephone: + 264 642 275 440 E-mail: service.africa@rolls-royce.com Address: P.O. Box 4414, Old Power Station, 2nd Street East, Walvis Bay, Namibia
Contact Persons: Patrick Adam M：+264 642 275 444
Rolls-Royce Namibia (Pty) Ltd has developed a repair and overhaul workshop in collaboration with EBH Namibia (Pty) Ltd. The existing 1800 sq m of shipyard workshop and stores facilities have been fully refurbished and upgraded, and a complete new set of tools and equipment installed. The workshop lies 0.5km from the three floating docks and Syncrolift. Walvis Bay is strategically located on the West Coast of Africa within good sailing distance of key trading routes and areas of offshore oil and gas activity. Rolls-Royce Namibia employs 15 Service Engineers who are factory trained in all of the major Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine products including: Automation and Controls, Propulsion, Engines, and Deck Machinery.
24/7 Emergency no: + 264 811 274 411 + 264 811 405 760
6 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Services offered at this facility: • Service azimuth thrusters, compass thrusters, • and tunnel thrusters • Service CPP’s, shafts, and gears • • Service steering gears, winches, and deck machinery • • Main engine and auxiliary engine overhauls •
Bergen Engines Worldwide Exchange Pool components Cylinder heads, liners, driven pumps, and fuel injector overhauls Repair and polish propeller blades Stores area for components and spare units
Services – with you in mind
24/7 technical support Our technical support helplines are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help with operational issues or answer any questions, whenever they arise.
Workshop facts
Training and customer support
The Rolls-Royce Namibia workshop is equipped with: • 1 x gantry crane with main winch of 30T and auxiliary winch of 7.5T, free lift height of 9m • 2 x gantry cranes with main winch of 20T, free lifting height of 5.8m • 1 portal crane system of 2t, 5.25m span, 10.5m long and hook height 4m • Automated component washing machine, ultrasonic cleaning tank, sand blasting system, and paint spray booth and high pressure water washing facility • Mechanical measuring and calibration equipment • Automation and Controls component refurbishment facility • Hytorc hydraulic torque equipment • SKF high pressure injectors & pumps and bearing heaters • Rolls-Royce Aquamaster, KaMeWa, and Ulstein propulsion special tools and lifting and handling equipment • Bergen Engines B, C, and K special tools • Chris-Marine tooling for overhaul of cylinder heads and liners • Fuel injector overhaul and test facility • Fully equipped welding & grinding booth • Blade repair equipment including a laser scanner arm for pitch measuring and a blade balancing machine Co-located with the EBH Namibia shipyard workshop, there is an ABB Turbocharger overhaul facility and other general machining, mechanical, hydraulic and electrical workshops, and steelwork, welding, NDT, fabrication, pipework, blasting and painting facilities.
Walvis Bay - Docking and Shiplifting Capabilities Namdock 1 Dimensions (m)
140 x 25 x 6 (draught)
Namdock 2
Namdock 3 (Panamax)
140 x 23.9 x 5.5 (draught)
195 x 33.5 x 8.5 (draught)
Namport Syncrolift 85 x 12.8 beam x 5.8 (draught)
Width at Entrance (m)
23.5
22.3
32.9
N/A
Lifting Capacity (metric tons)
8,000
6,500
15,000
2,000
4t, 7t, 10t
2 x 5t
2 x 10t
Cranes
12t, 140t
mobile cranes available for hire
Rolls-Royce – a Total Solutions Provider At Rolls-Royce, we pride ourselves in our ability to work in partnership with our customers where we listen, establish requirements, and offer service solutions to match. Our comprehensive menu of services is designed to accommodate different operational environments to offer varying support needs, and manage the balance between operational availability and cost. Supported by a strong global service network with 24/7 technical support and skilled workshop service team, create the peace of mind by making Rolls-Royce your single point of contact.
Rolls-Royce Namibia (Pty) Ltd PO Box 4414, Old Power Station 2nd Street East, Walvis Bay, Namibia Tel: +264 (0) 64 275440 E-mail: service.namibia@rolls-royce.com www.rolls-royce.com
We are committed to provide the best in training and run a range of courses to ensure that ship engineering teams can maintain our products as designed.
Global service network Our expanding service network now has 50 service centres in 29 countries. RollsRoyce is available in your time zone, with easy access to experienced service engineers and available spares.
Spares and service Delivering genuine OEM spares to your vessel fast is key to our operations. With various parts strategically placed in regional service centres and inventory hubs, Rolls-Royce will mobilize personnel and spares to get you quickly back into operation.
Service agreements By being able to customize agreements to best suit your business operations and requirements, we enable our customers to budget and manage risk for the years ahead.
Upgrading solutions With our continuous work on research and development, upgrading solutions are a cost effective way to enhance performance, reduce operating cost or manage obsolescence.
© 2013 Rolls-Royce plc Whilst this information is given in good faith, no warranty or representation is given concerning such information, which must not be taken as establishing any contractual or other commitment binding upon Rolls-Royce plc or any of its subsidiary or associated companies. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE | 7
EBH NAMIBIA
EBH NAMIBIA MECHANICAL AND PROPULSION WORKSHOP.
the skills level of our Namibian employees so that their skills can be considered ‘world-class’. We also support the development of women in the industry, and employ women across the business. We believe skills development is an important contribution to our competitive advantage, our efficiency, and ultimately our profitability and our long-term sustainability.”
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Preservation of the environment is a cornerstone of EBH Namibia’s mission, whether it’s through environmental impact assessments, awareness training, or projects like beach clean-ups. “We embark on extensive voluntary campaigns to re-evaluate and address concerns which could potentially arise from our business activities,” explains Mr. Uys.
W. Dresselhaus Engineering
Our depth & precision is your competitive advantage • Laser alignment & Chockfast We specialize in the following: • Machining of Propulsion components (Hubs & Blades etc) • Insitu Lineboring • Machining of engine components to OEM Specifications
www.dresselhausengineering.com 8 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
“Our environmental ethic has always been proactively focused on pollution prevention and adhering to all governing port regulations. We want employees to work in a safe environment while ensuring that no one is negatively affected by our operations.” Last year, the company appointed an internationally-accredited independent expert to evaluate, analyse, and compare to
this is through proactively developing our employees by providing abundant opportunities for them to advance their careers, thereby also benefiting their families and the wider communities in which they live.” EBH Namibia also have several community development schemes. Along with other companies, they provide apprenticeship programs to students from vocational education centres through the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. They contribute to school fees for underprivileged children in the local community, and send them to supplementary courses. They fund cricket equipment for a local youth cricket team, and sponsor the EBH T20 Social Cricket League. They support the Namibian Blood Transfusion Services by hosting a bi-monthly blood donation clinic at their premises. In response to the current housing shortage, they are also in the process of enabling an affordable housing community for employees. “Social responsibility and investment are an essential part of our business ethos and practice,” says Mr. Uys. “It is,
in fact, a key element in the sustainability of our business.” MAJOR PLAYER “We’re very proud of our docking facilities, which have allowed us to offer services to more vessels and to vessels of greater size,” he says. “In addition to this, ensuring the sustainable continuation of business and continuing to contribute to the Namibian economy despite the global economic downturn related to the oil price crisis has been a major achievement for this company. We plan to grow our area of operations through the diversification of our service offering, and to expand our operational zones. In the long-term, we envisage the creation of an even more effective and efficient EBH Namibia: A company that will be truly sustainable in the long-term, and be well positioned for future market share growth, enabling us to proudly continue making Namibia a major player in the international offshore, oil and gas, and maritime industries c EBH NAMIBIA SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES LEADING-EDGE BULBOUS BOW PROJECT. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017.
international standards the water samples taken within their area of operations. “Since our founding, we’ve recognized that we’re fully accountable for any potential risks our operations might pose to the environment,” continues Mr. Uys. “This expert gave special consideration to understanding any detrimental impact our operations could have in the allocated operating zones with operations such as grit blasting. The subsequent report indicates that EBH Namibia is operating well within the international limits set for protecting benthic and seashore fauna, as well as coastal and sea birds.” COMMUNITY GIVING “We are a major contributor to the Namibian national economy,” asserts Mr. Uys. “We have always heeded the call for the socio-economic upliftment of Namibia’s people, through job creation and by supporting the local communities in and around Walvis Bay. We have put great effort into becoming the employer of choice in Namibia. One of the ways we’ve done SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|9
OSERIAN
FLORI 4 LIFE
OSERIAN MAINTAINS THAT INVESTING IN NATURAL SOLUTIONS IMPROVES THEIR PRODUCTS AND COSTS.
10 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Hamish Ker, Technical Director at Oserian Development Company Ltd, about Brexit, improving efficiency, and pursuing carbon neutrality. Oserian Development Company Ltd run a 5000-acre flower farm by Lake Naivasha in Kenya, one of the largest exporters of cut roses to the European Union. Oserian have a unique ‘champions by nature’ approach to flower growing, using integrated pest management (IPM) systems over conventional pesticides, hydroponics to reduce water and fertilizer consumption, and the world’s largest geothermal heating project of its kind to maintain the temperature in the greenhouses and provide plant-nourishing CO2. Since 2016, when Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to Oserian (see issue 1/16 for the full feature), the flower business in Europe and Africa has undergone some profound changes. “As we see it, there are three new challenges in the business which impact us,” explains Hamish Ker, Technical Director at Oserian Development Company Ltd. “There’s the issue of Brexit; there’s Kenya’s development as a nation; and there’s increasing legislation in the European market.” CENTRAL HUB Brexit – the prospective departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union and its single market – has had an impact across global business. Many African flower farmers are particularly affected. “We’re obviously in the export industry,” says Mr. Ker. “Our business is driven by sterling and euro revenue, and our key cost drivers are related to dollars. As a result of Brexit, we face the impact of less revenue and increased costs.
The Kenyan flower industry has also matured, so the returns per square meter are a lot less today than they were in yesteryear. So Brexit has emboldened us as a business to fast-track what we were planning on doing to increase our efficiencies.” A notable new efficiency is the consolidation of all three Oserian flower farms into a single site. “For all intents and purposes, we had three farms with wildlife corridors running between them,” says Mr. Ker. “Before we discovered hydroponics, we had to use a lot of land to get soil and rotate the crops. The furthest site from the pack house was the newest part of the farm, where we have our geothermal resource. What we’ve done over the last six months is we’ve migrated the pack house there, and we’ve now started consolidating the flower farm into that one central hub, to make it more efficient from an oversight management perspective and also in terms of cost. That site will lend itself to the future of technological development, and allow us to grow our roses at the highest, most environmentally sustainable standards.” KENYAN DEVELOPMENT Kenya is currently capturing attention as large economies begin to look for opportunities to develop new markets. “We as a business see an opportunity to develop a number of opportunities outside the floricultural sector,” says Mr. Ker. “There is a new entity we’ve created called Two Lakes, which is a company charged with realizing the opSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 11
OSERIAN
OSERIAN HAVE ALSO IMPORTED SEVEN ELECTRIC VEHICLES FROM THE NETHERLANDS, TO FURTHER CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR CO2 REDUCTION GOALS.
portunities ahead, whether that’s developing various parts of our natural resource, or real estate development, or anything else. Our primary focus is on improving the efficiency of our flower operations, but as the industry develops, we also want to diversify our basket to take opportunities and avoid risk.” There are also upcoming opportunities for Kenya to access the American and Chinese markets. “Kenya has been given Category One status in terms of flights directly into the United States, so we will be able to have a much more efficient logistic,” says
12 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Mr. Ker. “We’re also seeing a big emerging market in China, where increasing middle income makes purchases of luxury products like flowers more and more an opportunity. We think this will have a significant impact in the next five years on the marketing and sales of flowers from East Africa.” ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION With the ongoing changes in the European Union, Oserian believes there will be increasing pressure on agricultural production from environmental legislation. “We’re see-
ing developments in legislation on things like pesticides and bee-friendly products,” says Mr. Ker. “The European Union currently measure maximum residue limits (MRL) of pesticides on vegetables and fruit, and we’re seeing great pressure from German and Swiss retailers to measure MRL on flowers too. We’ve been a driver on IPM for many years, but we believe in the coming years we’re going to have to double down even further on more sustainable, natural solutions. We’ll be expanding our existing IPM projects, and also adopting and devel-
oping new products, either through our own research or by creating synergies through leading IPM companies.” Oserian maintains that investing in natural solutions improves their products and costs. “I think more and more companies are seeing the value of these solutions,” says Mr. Ker. “It makes us more competitive from a cost point of view, and we get better results. Yes, we have to invest in training how to use these unique systems, but once you have that capacity, you find that nature’s solutions are more sustainable
from all perspectives. To all intents and purposes, what you’re doing is creating a balanced ecosystem on the farm.” CARBON NEUTRAL GOAL In response to a maturing industry, Oserian are deepening their investments in environmental sustainability. “We’re looking at how we can become CO2 neutral, which will improve our costs and build on our core values,” says Mr. Ker. “Compared to producers in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re at an advantage in this, because we’re on the equa-
tor. Those producers have to use fossil fuels to heat their greenhouses and provide light. In 2007, we worked with Cranfield University in a study which compared our CO2 emissions with those of a Dutch production center. The researchers found that production in Northern Hemisphere greenhouses resulted in 5.8 times more CO2 emissions than our production in Kenya, including air freight. Since then, we believe we’ve improved further, so we’re looking in the next year to analyze our current CO2 emissions. Once we’ve established that, we’ll assess
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 13
OSERIAN
what we need to do to mitigate our carbon footprint to become carbon neutral.” In addition to geothermal heating, equatorial light, and IPM, Oserian are investing in ways to make their transportation process more environmentally-friendly. “We’re working closely with a company called Cargolite, who have a unique concept for packing flowers and produce,” says Mr. Ker. “If you look at nature, we’ve evolved from exoskeletons to endoskeletons. Cargolite’s concept is, instead of using the rigidity of a cardboard box, they’ve put the strength into a plastic skeleton. It puts the pressure on plastic pillars, which allows the box itself to use much Magazine Ad Arima_Hortinews_9th Mar PRESS.pdf
1
09/03/2017
less cardboard to maintain its shape. This means a lighter box, which means a saving in air freight, a saving in cardboard, and a reduced impact on the environment, as well as reduced labor in Europe as well.” Oserian have also imported seven electric vehicles from the Netherlands, to further contribute to their CO2 reduction goals. “We’re going to use these as an initial project to see whether we can convert our trucks from fossil fuel to electric vehicles, which we can power from our geothermal,” says Mr. Ker. “If the project goes well, in the future, we’ll see more electric vehicle use.” COMMUNITY VALUES One of the ways Oserian are contributing to the sustainability of the local communities is through investments in improving local agriculture. “As Africa develops as a continent, we believe there will be increasing demands on food production,” says Mr. Ker. “We’re looking into what we can do to help farmers in our community become better. Our sister company Stokman is a propagator, and they’re busy with their tissue culture labs developing clean
seed banana plant materials and clean seed potatoes. We’re working with them to support that. We also help our community farmers better understand their soils by doing soil analysis, so they understand the imbalances and can apply the right fertilizers and corrective measures. We’ve been working with a number of small-scale farmers in our neighborhood, and they’ve increased their yields significantly.” Oserian also provide sheep to local herders “We have sheep on the farm to keep the grass short around the greenhouses, which reduces the insect pressure and the disease pressure,” says Mr. Ker. “We imported a pedigree breed of sheep from South Africa called the Dorper, which we’ve crossed with the local Maasai breed. We set aside some of the ram lambs every year and donate them to the community, to help improve their flocks. There’s also our bracelet project, where some of the local ladies make bracelets to put on our bouquets.” MARKETING SUSTAINABILITY As part of their ongoing drive to better communicate their sustainable practices, Oserian have developed a new branding
18:45
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
MORE FLOWERS LESS VOLUME RD LESS CARDBOA LESS TRUCKING LESS PLANES BLE FULLY RECYCLA
K
REDUCED CARB
ON FP www.cargo-lite.com
THE NEW CONCEPT IN FLOWER PACKAGING 14 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
campaign called Flori 4 Life. “The concept is to tell our ethical story in the marketplace,” says Mr. Ker. “We have created four lines: Flowers 4 Water, Flowers 4 Farming, Flowers 4 Education, and Flowers 4 Nature. These allow us to put on our products a tag telling our various stories. So the tag might talk about putting water into the community, for example, or building schools. This will allow us to keep our clients updated on a monthly basis on what we’re really doing over here. We believe when you’re giving someone flowers, it’s an emotional gift, and we believe if we can tell the sustainable story behind our own flowers, it adds even more value to that gift.”
don’t have the geothermal heating or the CO2, they can’t grow certain crops which we may be able to, so we’re looking into developing more of those specialist varieties.” Oserian are also looking to invest further in cutting-edge technology. “We believe we can really bring Aalsmeer to Kenya,” says Mr. Ker. “I think we Kenyan growers are having to become much more sophisticated in how we use carbon dioxide, heating, hydroponics, and humidification. We’re also looking to enhance our IPM program. For us, it’s about making the most of the unique natural resource we have, whether it’s using insects and fungi, or natural geothermal
resources from under the ground, or solar power. Nature has a lot of resources, and we can bring those resources not only to reduce our costs but also reduce our impact on the environment. True sustainability is about adding value, and whether it’s our IPM program, the Cargolite boxes, hydroponics, or geothermal, these are all examples of being competitive without impacting on our sustainable values.” c If any PhD students or Research Institutes are interested in undertaking a CO2 Assessment of Oserian Development Company please contact: info@oserian.com
LESS IS MORE “We’re looking to become more focused,” says Mr. Ker. “Instead of growers looking at their performance by hectare, we challenge them to look at their performance per square centimeter. We believe less is more. One of our mottos on the farm is ‘Better each day’. We challenge our management to be better each day, to see what they can develop and improve, to drive out waste, and to improve performance and quality. We also try to think about what makes Oserian Flowers different. So we’re investing in the geothermal resources we have, and seeing how we can use that to improve not only our productivity but also our quality. Because other growers in Kenya SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 15
GREENWAY FARMS
TODAY, THE COMPANY SUPPLIES 40% OF THE CARROTS EATEN IN SOUTH AFRICA, DELIVERING 200 TONS OF CARROTS EVERY DAY, ALL YEAR ROUND.
THE
GREEN WAY Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Vito Rugani, Managing Director at Greenway Farms, about challenging paradigms, byproduct utilization, and investments in sustainability.
16 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Greenway is a South African carrot farm who produce carrots and carrot juice under the Rugani brand. Founded in 1992 as a 20-hectare vegetable farm by Vito Rugani and Vincent Sequiera, Greenway began specializing in carrots in 2000. Today, the company supplies 40% of the carrots eaten in South Africa, delivering 200 tons of carrots every day, all year round. “When I and my partner started out, we had a typical market garden,” says Mr. Rugani, Managing Director at Greenway Farms. “You’d have a line of this and a line of that, and you’d pack it all and take it down to the local greengrocer’s and sell it. That was a model that worked for our grandparents, but it doesn’t work in the modern era. The economies of scale were all wrong, and we ended up spending a fortune on wages because everything was manual.” EMBRACING CHANGE Everything changed when the company founders began looking into farming methods in Europe and Australia. “There was a paradigm in South Africa that labor is cheap and so you don’t mechanize,” says Mr. Rugani. “This is a fallacy. Labor and
machines can work in equilibrium. When you underinvest in technology, your wages may be low, but your wage bill nonetheless becomes exorbitant. We had a silent partner on board, and we spent everything on labor aids. In a matter of months, the profitability of the farm had turned around. Within five years, we bought the partner out, and by 2006 we were up to 150 hectares.” The nature of mechanization meant Greenway began to specialize. “From the original 25 lines, we were down to 3 lines in 2000,” says Mr. Rugani. “Eventually we made the big decision to go to carrots only, and began to buy appropriate machinery and upgrade our facilities to handle hydrocooling. In a day, we revolutionized without changing our philosophy of production on the ground. This was a big decision. At that point in time, we were the only farm in the country who specialized in carrots.” ORANGE REVOLUTION The decision to specialize has been a huge success for Greenway. “We’ve been able to take the farm from 150 hectares in 2000 to 3,500 hectares in 2014,” says Mr. Rugani. “The Southern African region produces SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 17
GREENWAY FARMS
about 150,000 tons of carrots per year, and we now account for 30% of that. This is because of specialization. We began grading our carrots to different sizes, hydrocooling, and we were able to take it to a new level. In doing so, we transformed the image of carrots. In 2000, carrot consumption in this country was about 100 tons per day. By 2010, it was 600 tons per day. Instead of having a shelf life of three or four days, consumers were getting carrots which would be acceptable even after a month. This opened up the hinterland and exports.”
18 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Today, Rugani Carrots are known throughout South Africa. “We began the ‘Rugani Carrots’ brand in the early 1990s, but as we adopted better technology and shelf life enhancement, the brand began to accelerate,” explains Mr. Rugani. “A big contentious issue which we’ve stuck to our guns with is that we manage to sell everything spot market, not futures market. For a farmer, a moving price which is driven by supply and demand is an important shock absorber. Then if you’ve got a great crop, you can let the price drop, and if the weather’s hostile
and you have a bad yield, you can set a higher price to stabilize the income. But when you sell to a chain store, they want a fixed price and a pre-determined quantity. Moving prices are seen as chaotic. They also want to remove the brand, because then if they change suppliers, the brand doesn’t go with you. We’ve seen a lot of farmers tempted to go into the retail environment and give up on their brand. This may work to a point, but we believe it’s not constructive. Instead, we’ve continued selling through Joburg Market, which is one of our national treasures.”
DIVERSIFICATION AND UTILIZATION Five years ago, Greenway Farms diversified beyond carrots again. “We realized the next frontier of agriculture is byproduct utilization,” says Mr. Rugani. “When you grow carrots in a hot climate like South Africa, you get away with one crop of carrots, then you
rest the land for three years, and then you plant another crop of carrots. You’ve basically got six months on, thirty-six months off. So you have these huge areas of land lying idle most of the time. On a carrot farm, idle land is a byproduct, so you have to utilize it with something. But you can’t rotate any other
vegetable that shares a common pathogen, and in South Africa, our biggest shortage is water, so you can’t just plant another crop. What we’ve found is if you plant pastures, and if you run beef cattle on it, the pastures can be sustained by rainfall. So we’ve got a grass-fed beef herd which is synergistic
info@botala.co.za | 072 340 6234
www.botala.co.za Botala Energy Solutions is one of the first engineering companies in South Africa providing turnkey biogas plants of all sizes. Botala Energy provides a one stop solution to our customer from initial feasibility study, financing applications - through engineering and construction till final operation and after sales servicing of the plants and equipment. Green Way Farm - 3.5MW (thermal) raw biogas plant, Krugersdorp, South Africa.
With a Biogas plant on your farm you can simultaneously address your problem of electricity costs and manure disposal. Botala offers turn-key package installations and custom engineered solutions for your farm or factory. Convert your manure stockpiles or manure-pond into energy and generate your own electricity in order to protect your business against Eskom price escalations.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 19
GREENWAY FARMS
with the carrot production. You don’t have to buy more land because the cattle use the land you’ve got; you don’t have to get more water rights because the water is adequate.” An even bigger project utilizes another byproduct – broken or lower-grade carrots. “Carrots are very susceptible to breakage,” says Mr. Rugani. “Typically, between 25% and 30% of your crop is undersized, oversized, not straight, or broken. And the second-grade market has got very little value. So we’re producing about 60 tons of food a day which people aren’t really interested in buying. We decided the way to go was to start a juice factory.” FRESH CARROT JUICE The juice industry is roughly divided into fruit juice and root or vegetable juice. Fruit is seasonal, and is typically reduced to a long-lasting concentrate which can then be sold on to be reconstituted. Root and vegetable juices tend to be sold without reducing and reconstituting the juice. “The problem is concentrates are often a few years old when
20 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
you reconstitute them,” says Mr. Rugani. “Then you put another sell-by date on it. So you can often drink an apple juice where the apple was picked from the tree five years ago. Vegetable juice is different. We get 50 tons of carrots coming every single day, so the rush to concentrate in the fruit’s season is gone. We pull the carrot out of the ground, and in four hours, you’ve got fresh carrot juice. We were radical, and we said: ‘We’re going to stay fresh. We’re not going to go the reconstituted route.’ In doing so, we believe we’ve brought the consumer closer to the farmer.” For safety reasons, Greenway Farms pasteurize their carrot juice. An unanticipated byproduct of this process is the mobilization of a key vitamin in carrots. “It is widely known that carrots are an excellent source of beta-Carotene,” says Mr. Rugani. “What’s less widely known is that beta-Carotene appears in different forms. A lot of vegetables, including carrots, make beta-Carotene, but not all of them make a lot of cis-beta-Carotene, which is an isomer. One of the reasons
BYPRODUCT UTILIZATION IS ONLY ONE ASPECT OF GREENWAY FARMS’ SUCCESSFUL DRIVE TO ERADICATE WASTE.
researchers are so excited by spirulina is because it is a strong form of cis-beta-Carotene. But researchers have learned that when you put carrots through a pasteurization process, you convert the plant’s beta-Carotene into cis-beta-Carotene, which has been linked to all sorts of positive health effects.” SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS Byproduct utilization is only one aspect of Greenway Farms’ successful drive to eradicate waste. “We have zero waste,” says Mr. Rugani. “Nothing leaves the farm. Even the pulp from the carrot juice goes into a methane digester, which turns it into green energy which runs the factory. Our biogas solution isn’t yet very profitable, but we believe if you don’t start, you never get there. Like all these things, you’ll make money somewhere down the line, once you’ve made the investments.”
Nor is technology Greenway Farms’ only sustainable investment. “Our biggest challenge in this country is social inequality,” says Mr. Rugani. “Our workers have a block of shares in the business. The objective is to mobilize a second stream of income, in addition to wages and salaries. Instead of just handing the dividends out like another salary, we’re using it to buy land for the workers, so they now own land. We’re going to be looking for the government’s cooper-
ation to subdivide the land so the workers can own a piece of ground to start building their own house.” “I get a lot of satisfaction out of the fact I’ve been able to walk side by side with my partner for 25 years,” says Mr. Rugani. “It’s a very good, honest partnership, and I’m grateful we’ve been able to get that right. Between us we’ve got eight children on the farm, out of a total of fourteen. So we’re going on to the second generation, which is encouraging. We’ve attracted talented people. Financial people, computer programmers, marketing people, sales guys, who’ve all qualified and then they’ve come back to the farm with their skills. We all have to do something, and whatever we do, we must do it because we love doing it. Life is not about what’s in it for me. It’s about what’s in it for the people around me, be it your worker, be it your family, be it your customer.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 21
SWADE
SWADE HAS CONSTRUCTED THREE DAMS TO CREATE 6,500 HECTARES OF IRRIGATED LAND FOR COMMERCIAL FARMING BY SMALLHOLDERS.
BIG DEVELOPMENTS FOR SMALLHOLDERS Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Samson Sithole, CEO of Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE), about empowering smallholder farmers to succeed in commercial agriculture.
22 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
DAM SPILL WAY.
FEEDER CANAL.
Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE) is a public company developing water and land resources in Swaziland to support smallholder farming. The company was established in 1999 by the government of Swaziland to harness the water resources of the Maguga Dam, then under construction as a joint venture between Swaziland and South Africa. Initially named Swaziland Komati Project Enterprise (SKPE), the company was tasked with delivering the Komati Downstream Development Project, using water from the dam to develop smallholder farmland. The successful implementation of that first project led to an expanded mandate and a name change: SKPE became SWADE, responsible for water and agricultural development across Swaziland. Operating under the joint auspices of the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and Natural Resources and Energy, SWADE has since taken on eight more development projects. The company’s achievements are now attracting interest from other southern African countries hoping to learn from its model. KOMATI DOWNSTREAM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT The Maguga Dam sits on the Komati River in a mountainous area of north-western Swaziland. Water from the river flows through Swaziland and into South Africa. When work on the dam commenced in the 1990s, it was Swaziland’s largest ever public works project, and the government needed to ensure that the resources made available by the dam were effectively managed. “Swaziland did not want to lose their portion of water, however it was apparent that the undertak-
ing required diverse expertise and maximum efficiency,” explains Samson Sithole, CEO of SWADE. “Therefore the government initiated a public company which would be able to move with speed in execution.” Through the Komati Downstream Development Project, SWADE aimed to create 6,000 hectares of irrigated farmland, operated by smallholders for commercial agriculture. As of 2017, SWADE has successfully developed 5,500 hectares along this model. “The project is benefiting about 34,000 people,” says Mr. Sithole. “We have actually alleviated them from poverty. In fact, a town in the area – Tshaneni – has grown significantly since inception of the project. Quite a number of businesses have sprung up there as a result of the project, namely haulage companies, tyre and auto businesses, butcheries, and other small shops. Unemployment has decreased significantly.” EXPANDING OPERATIONS Positive outcomes from the Komati Downstream Development Project have brought recognition and more projects for SWADE. One of the company’s largest undertakings is the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP), under which SWADE has constructed the Lubovane dam to irrigate 6,500 hectares of irrigated land for commercial farming by smallholders in its first phase. The project is now in its second phase, in which a new 54-kilometer canal will help develop another 5,000 hectares. The company has recently completed the work of resettling households that will be affected by the new infrastructure. Now, as final arrangements are made for construction to begin on the canal, the comSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 23
SWADE COMMUNITY POTABLE WATER STORAGE CONSTRUCTION.
OVERALL, SWADE CALCULATES THAT MORE THAN 80,000 PEOPLE HAVE SO FAR BENEFITED FROM ITS PROJECTS.
pany is setting its sights on an even more ambitious project. “We plan to build three dams irrigating about 40,000 hectares in the south,” says Mr. Sithole. “That’s the driest area of the country, where the poorest of the poor are found. We need development in that region, because only around 30% of people living there are in gainful employment; whilst 20% depend on aid.” WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES A key component of SWADE’s model is supporting smallholders to transition from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. To do this work successfully, the company works closely with local communities and chiefs, creating collaborative development plans specific to each community.
“We do not just go there and start training people,” explains Mr. Sithole. “Our model is such that we start with mobilization of communities for social transformation. We have experts that go into communities and make sure that, first, the entire project is accepted by the community. Second, because our communities are led by chiefs, each chiefdom community creates its own development plan. Then the chief signs it off publicly, ensuring that the development plans are embraced and supported by all.” From here, SWADE brings in the technical team. “That’s the engineers, the agriculturalists, and the management experts,” says Mr. Sithole. “They start training the farmers technically. By that stage, the farmWINTER MAIZE PRODUCTION.
24 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
ers are receptive to that training. Later on, those farmers will form a legal entity, usually a company, so they can buy commodities, hire employees and business management, and establish a board to supervise operations. That is how we empower people and at the same time, we are continually assessing and training, supporting people as they encounter new challenges.” FILLING THE GAPS To choose its projects, SWADE identifies gaps in existing markets. “The projects we undertake address the needs of the country,” says Mr. Sithole. “Everything depends on the situation on the ground. For example, we started our Smallholder Market-Led Project because we already had a critical mass of
not only focused on agricultural development,” says Mr. Sithole. “Our approach is holistic. We look at health facilities, schools, roads – everything. And where there are needs, we provide. We build classrooms and laboratories, we make sure that every community we have been through has clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. The fact that we have reached so many people in our country, especially the poorest of the poor, makes us very proud.” smallholder farmers producing, but they didn’t have a market to sell to – they were producing without thinking about the market. So we are closing that gap with a project to encourage market development.” On the other hand, if there is an existing market, SWADE develops producers around it. “For example, if there is a sugar cane mill operating in an area, we know that a market for sugarcane exists there,” says Mr. Sithole. “Then we look at the scope for expanding that mill using produce from smallholders. This sort of model is the basis of our High Value Crop and Horticulture Project.” HOLISTIC APPROACH Before SWADE begins any project, environmental assessments are conducted and
an associated mitigation plan is developed. Notably, the company has worked with support from the Global Environment Fund (GEF) to carry out environmental mitigation work in the areas impacted by the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project, focusing on the impact of livestock displaced from newly irrigated farmland. In instances where SWADE is unable to create a clear mitigation plan for an area, the company leaves that area for conservation. All of SWADE’s projects are approved by the Swaziland Environment Authority, and monitored by an international environment panel. Overall, SWADE calculates that more than 80,000 people have so far benefited from its projects, in diverse ways. “We are
SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VISION “We are very proud that now in Swaziland, we have farmers who are able to think and come up with their own solutions and ideas,” says Mr. Sithole. “Looking to the future, we want to build on these achievements. We want to develop all the water and land in the country, to boost the economy and reduce issues of unemployment.” The vision does not end with Swaziland. SWADE is proud of the expertise it is now able to share with other countries in the region. “We have become a beacon in Southern Africa,” says Mr. Sithole. “Other countries are coming to learn from us. We are a small country to attract so much attention, but SWADE through its successes has managed to do that.” c
FARMERS HARVESTING VEGETABLES.
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 25
FERNEY SPINNING MILLS
ONE AREA FSM HAS EXCELLED IN IS TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON REDUCING THEIR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT.
26 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
DYED-IN-THE-WOOL
GREEN Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Mushtaq Sooltangos, Managing Director at Ferney Spinning Mills, about reducing water consumption, training new talent, and maintaining world-class quality.
Ferney Spinning Mills (FSM) is a Mauritius-based woollen yarn producer, supplying knitting and weaving industries across the world. Founded in 1978 with a vision for a business based on excellence, style and innovation, FSM’s entrepreneurial spirit has ensured that the company has consistently improved and reinvented itself. The result has been strong partnerships with worldclass weaving industries in the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as a string of contracts with major clothing retailers. One area FSM has excelled in is technological innovation, with a particular focus on reducing their ecological footprint
as part of a five-year sustainability plan covering 2015 to 2020. “We don’t do it because we need more customers,” says Mushtaq Sooltangos, Managing Director of FSM. “We do it because we want to be responsible. All our processes start with a commitment from the top, from our parent group CIEL Textile, that filters down to our factories. These are part of compliance with national and international regulations surrounding wool production.” FSM also has committed itself to the Higg Index 2.0, an indicator based assessment tool for apparel and footwear products. Its aim is to create a standard industry
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 27
FERNEY SPINNING MILLS
approach to measuring and evaluating sustainability impacts. The Higg Index measures environmental and social impacts across the life cycle of an apparel and footwear product.
28 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
FSM is an Oeko–Tex Standard 100 certified company and it is REACH compliant. We are now on our way for EU-Eco Label Certification.
WATER MANAGEMENT Water usage and management is an important part of FSM’s environmental commitments. The in-house dyeing process demands intensive water usage, and produces substantial quantities of waste water once completed. FSM’s water policy has led to a number of innovations throughout the process, from usage mitigation to consistently improving waste management. “We currently have a new standard in FSM’s dye-house where we will use only 75 liters of water for dyeing 1kg of wool,” says Mr. Sooltangos. “Even the international standard for 1kg is 125 liters.” At the other end of the process, a hot water recovery system is used to reclaim water from the last bath of the dipping and dyeing stage, to be used in a new dyeing operation. The results of these and other innovations has been a drastic reduction in the volume of water used by FSM to manufacture woollen yarn, equivalent to 36% compared to the international average. This is alongside the reduction in
electricity use, where FSM have managed a further 5% savings during 2015-2016 through simple initiatives like switching off lights and optimizing machine speeds, as well as ensuring equipment is well-maintained and up to date. SUSTAINABILITY INDEX In addition to using less water than other woollen yarn manufacturers in the dyeing process, FSM also derive a large portion of this water from harvested rain. “To really reduce our ecological footprint we are also harvesting rain water for use in our dyeing process,” says Mr. Sooltangos. “We have several artificial rainwater collection points
feeding an artificial water reservoir that give FSM water autonomy of about 16 days, although this can change depending on the seasons. For example, right now is the rainy season, and that means we are self-sufficient with water for about four to five weeks. That means we don’t have to use any water from the mains at all.” These and other progressive initiatives are underlined by the fact that FSM’s business is focused on wool, one of the textile industry’s most environmentally sustainable materials. All of this led to CIEL Textile/ FSM being one of the first group of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius Sustainability Index (SEMSI) when it was
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 29
FERNEY SPINNING MILLS
launched in September 2015. Mauritius prides itself on its ecological beauty, and services, including tourism, account for 25.6% of the country’s GDP. FSM and its parent CIEL Textile have consistently performed well on SEMSI, demonstrating their commitment to contribute to the preservation of this beauty, as well as their continued global competitiveness. FROM PLACE TO PEOPLE FSM is well-known for recruiting locally, internationally and its good employee and community practices. The company focuses
on in-house training which aims to discover and build on strengths staff members possess, developing them not only into well-skilled individuals but complementary team members as well. The sense of loyalty is also very high with people having worked for more than 37 years in the mill. “We both train in-house and recruit young talent, though we try to recruit experienced people as well,” says Mr. Sooltangos. “This gives FSM a good blend of youth and experience, ensuring we have a steady and well-proportioned employee infrastructure. One thing we do is encour-
age older managers to recruit and train the assistant managers. When a manager reaches about 55 or 56 and is going to retire within the decade, they recruit and have eight to ten years to train their replacement. This is especially important in those areas where complementary talent is required and you need the patience of repetition of work and time.” CRAFTSMAN-LED FSM’s wool yarn manufacturing business, though heavily reliant on machinery, also owes a great deal to handicrafts and manual workers as well. In this respect, an FSM factory is partly industrial and partly 30 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
FSM ARE KEEN TO BROADEN THEIR CAPACITY IN SOCIALLY BENEFICIAL PRACTICES, AS WELL AS TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.
artisanal, giving a unique character where it is not enough to simply train employees in basic procedures. Instead FSM provide the space and opportunity for personal development. “This is very important because we are craftsmen-led, and we can’t train craftsmen the same way we train machine operators,” explains Mr. Sooltangos. There is also extensive cross-pollination between FSM and other companies. Employees are selected for week- or two-week-long trips to other factories and other international industries, such as with partners in Great Britain and Italy, where they can learn new skills, share their own skills, and widen their understanding of the wool manufacturing
supply chain. FSM has received highly positive feedback from employees and partners with this initiative. This crossover extends beyond employee sharing to co-operation on best practices, so the company are not only at the cutting edge but helping to push that edge forwards as well. EMBEDDED IN THE ENVIRONMENT Looking forward, FSM are keen to broaden their capacity in socially beneficial practices, as well as to continue to improve their environmental sustainability. “We work with NGOs fighting gender inequalities, handicap discrimination, and poverty,” says Mr. Sooltangos. “I am very humbled by the
work they do, and, going forward, I hope FSM will be more involved in leading the fight against poverty and inequality. “We also are looking forward to building our capacity for solar-generated energy through the installation of solar panels at our dyeing factories.” says Mr. Sooltangos. “Our industrial set-up is on a green reserve area with 22 endemic plants on site. There are also many plants endemic to Mauritius that are endangered, and one of my personal interests is helping to recover these species on the island. Ultimately we want FSM to be playing a leading role by giving our funds and resources to make those visions more possible.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 31
GLOBAL EVENTS
OCT
2017
2nd - 3rd
The Waste Management and Recycling Africa Summit 2017 Nairobi, Kenya
Theme of the Summit: Innovative solutions for sustainable waste management through science and technology. This will be the first major event of the year in Nairobi focusing on waste management & technology.
www.bizenius.in/wastemanagementforum/
9th - 11th
ELECTRO OMAN 2017 Muscat, Oman www.infraoman.com
Oman’s leading exhibition in power, electricity, and lighting is dedicated solely to energy and clearly partitioned to cover all aspects of the sector. Electro Oman will draw a large number of decision-makers and professionals in the field, including government representatives, investors, and buyers both from the region and neighboring countries.
30th - 31st
Arab Future Cities Summit Dubai 2017 Dubai, UAE www.smartcitiesdubai.com
AFCS Dubai is UAE’s leading smart city event. Over 400 senior executives from municipalities and government, developers, technology and sustainability experts, designers and architects attend each year.
30th - Nov 1st
Sustainable Brands Copenhagen, Denmark
Join hundreds of global business leaders for their second year in Copenhagen, a model city for green living and sustainable business.
events.sustainablebrands.com/sb17cph/
7th - 9th
6th West African Clean Energy & Environment Exhibition & Conference Accra, Ghana www.wacee.net
The 3-day Exhibition and Conference Trade Fair is one of a kind where major stakeholders in the clean energy and environment sector showcase their case studies, products, solutions, and innovations to the international, Ghanaian, and West African markets.
7th - 8th
7th International EnviroCities Conference and Exhibition Yanbu Saudi Arabia www.envirocities2017.com
EnviroCities 2017 gives the opportunity for meeting, exchanging team expertise, and open discussions to share ideas resulting from innovations in sustainability. The event will gather all major stakeholders to benchmark techniques, solutions, and best sustainable environmental practices on a local, regional, and global scale.
13th - 14th
Power Qatar Summit 2017 Doha, Qatar www.powerqatar.com
Qatar’s only power generation, transmission, and distribution event. Focusing on the future of the power sector in Qatar with a strong emphasis on renewable energy, smart energy solutions, smart meters, and smart grids.
21st
Intersolar Summit Iran Tehran Province, Iran
The Intersolar Summit Iran will welcome leading experts on solar power and renewable energy in the region. Main discussions are about grid-integration solutions, financing, and foreign investments.
Electricity Expo North Africa Algiers Province, Algeria enaexpo.net
Being attended by prominent electrical companies, equipment manufacturers, and vendors, the expo offers participants the opportunity to network, learn about new technologies and techniques, exchange ideas, and discuss industry trends.
http://www.intersolarglobal.com
22nd - 25th
32 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
NOV
2017
ADVERTISERS INDEX B Botala Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd.
R Rolls-Royce Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
P06
C Cargolite P14
S Syngenta East Africa Ltd.
P14
E Elgon Kenya Ltd.
W W Dresselhaus Engineering
P08
P Power & Electricity World Africa 2018
P19
P13
Back Cover
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
| 33