The good business sense of sound environmental and social practices

How a generational farmer is advancing his family farm with quality environmental and social practices

Mbati Tjiho is a generational farmer who in 2017 traded his office job of twentyfive years for exploring his passion for farming. His farm, which was predominantly focused on livestock, is located close to the town of Outjo in the Kunene Region of Namibia. Mbati has seen the impact of bush encroachment on his family farm first- hand. “Some farms in my area have much more grasses than our farm. My farm was overgrazed and encroached. Today my grasses don’t grow that high, but it is something I am correcting”, Mbati says. “I realised that encroaching bush presents an opportunity for the farming industry in Namibia. It is a problem for livestock grazing. But some have started adding value to the bush. Either charcoal production, firewood production, or biochar and many other products from the bushes. My main reason was to improve the grazing capacity of the farmland.”

HOW MBATI DIVERSIFIED HIS FARMING BUSINESS

“When I started farming, my father was producing some charcoal, but I didn’t know how big this business should be to be profitable. Unfortunately, my father passed away at the end of 2017 and this meant I had to take over the farm operations. At the beginning of 2018 I became a member of N-BiG”, Mbati says, referring to the Namibia Biomass Industry Group (N-BiG), a support organisation to the Namibian biomass industry.

“With N-BiG’s assistance, we did an assessment of the farm. We did the calculations and came to the conclusion that there is a lot that I can do here”, Mbati continues. “However, I didn’t have much experience then, so I had to knock on the different doors in the industry, the regulators and the industry stakeholders. I also became a member of the Namibia Charcoal Association (NCA).

At that time, if there was any article about the industry, I would be reading it. I used every opportunity to attend training or workshops to gain an understanding of the industry. Then I started with my production.

When I took over from my father the production was very small. My father had twelve kilns which produced enough to supply two to three trucks per year. I used my own savings to acquire more, and push our numbers to thirty kilns.”

DEMAND DRIVES QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES

Mbati says he quickly realised that the real driver of the charcoal industry is the demand for quality products. “I understood the issue of demand and the requirements of the customers where the products are being sold. Especially in Europe customers are discerning about their products. They need to meet environmental and social standards. This was when I first heard about FSC.”

Policies and standards have been established in the bush mass and bio utilisation field to ensure sustainability and environmentally sound practices define this industry. One such gold standard of quality environmental practises is FSC Certification.

The Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes responsible management of the world’s forests by helping consumers to identify products that are derived with responsible, fair and sustainable practices and then supports them with their purchase.

For a supplier to become FSC certified, they need to meet social requirements, i.e. providing quality living and safe workspaces, as well as applying sound environmental practices which ensure that only invasive species are removed or harvested and that it is done in a sustainable manner.

“At first it sounded like an insurmountable task, a big one, ” Mbati recalls. “But we had the product and we needed to sell. I am on the production side, I don’t process, I sell in bulk to processors who package the charcoal. Most of the processors and buyers are FSC certified, and of course the rate for FSC suppliers is higher than for non-FSC.

I then approached N-BiG and NCA, who referred me to the CMO group scheme.” CMO offers services to natural resource-based industries and manages an FSC group scheme for charcoal producers in Namibia.

Mbati Tjiho on his farm in the Kunene Region

HOW THIS FARMER BECAME FSC CERTIFIED

Mbati explains that a producer must meet certain requirements in order to become FSC certified. “Things like protective clothing and first aid kits, providing housing and ablution facilities, training the workers, putting physical structures in place, setting up meeting places and so on.”

Accommodation for workers is a strict requirement for FSC certification and so are sound environmental practices. Mbati says he always wanted this kind of approach to his business and becoming FSC Certified “just fast-tracked my plan.”

He points out that Namibia’s Forestry Act also stipulates which trees may be cut down and which may not. “So it’s actually in line with our law and the issues around what type of species to harvest. This is very important.”

Another important aspect of FSC certification, Mbati says, is that “we needed to put good record-keeping structures in place, which is anyway good business practice. You need to maintain record-keeping in any business.”

According to Mbati the process may require some effort at the start, but complying with the FSC standards is not difficult. “It’s not difficult for you as a producer, or as the owner of the operation. At the beginning it might be a little difficult because of the cash flow.”

THE BENEFITS OF FSC CERTIFICATION

As with most things, the gains become apparent in the long term. “If you compare my rate per ton to the other non-FSC producers, my average is N$ 2050 per ton compared to N$ 1600 or 1700 per ton. Then of course there is the guarantee or certainty, that once your product is ready the processor will take it. There is a buyer and if your buyer’s capacity is full you can go to another one who is FSC certified.”

Mbati notes that initially it helped his process to be part of a group scheme together with CMO, especially in securing buyer markets. However, that did not mean that he could sit back.

The effort is rewarded by the environmental gains, says Mbati. “I think the thing you should take into consideration is the environment. The sustainability of the production, sustainability of your farmland. All those issues are very important because today you may not feel it, but tomorrow you will.”

When asked if he would recommend the process to other farmers, Mbati’s advice is, “Go for it. I have already told my neighbours to do it. It’s not difficult. Luckily, on our farm we already had some houses for our workers, so we just had to improve them, and then there was the matter of record-keeping. I tell everybody they must go for FSC. My experience is that if you invest today, you will have an asset tomorrow.”

As Mbati has learnt, “There’s nowhere in life where you just go and never face challenges. You always need to come up with mitigating measures to overcome those challenges. So, I’m happy and I look forward to improving and growing even more.”

FURTHER SOURCES:

NCA Best Practice Guide Download: https://ncanamibia. com/download/good-practice-booklet-july-2018-webversion/

Kirsty Watermeyer