ImpactAgri Brochure 2019

AIDING THE MINING SECTOR THROUGH SUSTAINABLE AGRIBUSINESSES IN AFRICA

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IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL VALUE-CHAINS IN AFRICA AND BEYOND WRITTEN BY

DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY

RICHARD DEANE

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ImpactAgri is on a mission to bring together major companies, investors and stakeholders to create economically viable, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable agribusinesses across Africa

M

ining companies are some of the biggest landowners and economic contributors in Africa. As such, they have a unique opportu-

nity, and responsibility, to develop economic diversifi04

cation strategies based on the sustainable use of land and water resources. Agriculture should be a core component of this strategy, where the needs of mining and agriculture in rural areas overlap in many ways and at all stages in the life of a mine.

ImpactAgri is working with the mining industry in Africa, and increasingly elsewhere, to help mining companies contribute to and benefit from the economic, social and environmental impacts of sustainable agriculture. ImpactAgri’s work plays a key role in the development of responsible mining strategies for many companies.

ImpactAgri Founder & CEO, Jon White, had 20 years of experience working in agriculture when he recognised the need to find a new way to improve logistics, access-to-market and financing for emerging agribusinesses in Africa. He believes agriculture

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“ If you can create high-value agri-processing that’s inclusive and maintains employment levels then those jobs can last forever” — Jon White, Founder & CEO, ImpactAgri 06

can be the catalyst to deliver socioeconomic development while caring for nature. “The best way to create real jobs in Africa and reduce the impact on the environment is through well-designed farming systems done in a socially conscious way,” says White, who notes the challenge in breaking the cycle of ‘slash-and-burn’. “Much of the deforestation occurring is due to slash-and-burn, where soils become poor after a few years of use, so they move to the next hectare, burn it down, plant, stay there a year, then move to the next hectare…”

07 Sustainable and economically viable

farming towards revenue-generating

approaches to farming can create long-

enterprises and greater employment.

term agri-employment and environmen-

Governments across Africa are

tal benefits, explains White. “A mine

increasingly wanting to issue licences

can be a great employer for 20 years or

to mining companies capable of

more but when it closes there’s nothing,”

supporting the population around the

he warns. “If you can create high-value

mine. “It’s OK replanting trees when

agri-processing that’s inclusive and

you leave a mine site, but what happens

maintains employment levels then those

to the many people employed there

jobs can last forever.” It’s the creation

when it closes?” questions White, who

of a genuine long-term footprint that

argues that new mines, often in enviro-

drives White and his team; the opportu-

nmentally sensitive areas, need attractive

nity to help mining companies co-cre-

alternative employment opportunities

ate sustainable self-standing agribusi-

to deal with the inevitable migration of

nesses, driving a shift from subsistence

workers. “You can actually create a hub w w w.i mpa c t a g r i. com

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of agriculture away from the mine to

community. He advises that address-

stop that drift, and people will go there

ing key questions can help companies

rather than to the mine gate,” he

benefit from the agriculture sector.

reasons. “In sensitive areas, like Guinea

“Can agriculture provide sustainable

and Cameroon, to have a strategy that

jobs alongside this industrial activity?

creates a hub away from the mine,

Can it contribute to the social license

but coherent with its situation and, to

to operate by building community

a degree, supported by the mine, is

relations? Can it provide solutions for

a positive thing to do for all concerned.”

post-mine planning that deliver more

ImpactAgri’s other Founder and

than trees and dry grassland with

Director, David Hampton, is keen to

poor biodiversity? How can agricul-

see agriculture projects working

tural technologies help rehabilitate

alongside mining and other industries,

land, stabilise tailing ponds and help

both taking advantage of and

remove heavy metals? All the way

spurring on the development of key

through the value chain, there is

infrastructure vital for the life of an

a crossover between agriculture and

industrial project and its local

the different stages mines and other

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

David Hampton David Hampton is a highly experienced strategy consultant, company director and entrepreneur.

He has over 30 years of international experience and expertise in strategy consulting primarily providing advice to major global corporations in the energy, mining and agri-business industries on the strategic impact of sustainability and clean technology developments on their business.

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“You can’t simply buy into a project in Africa sitting in an office – you have to go out there and make it happen” — David Hampton, Founder & Director, ImpactAgri

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S E I G O O L N H C TE

W E N WITH

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

E BEFOR

E BEFOR

E BEFOR

“ We believe you can take your CSR budget, and make it into a cash generator.

Not a cost.That’s the advantage of working with ImpactAgri” — Jon White, Founder & CEO, ImpactAgri

industrial businesses pass through when utilising the land. The opportunities are there.”

In Guinea, ImpactAgri is working with Anglo African Minerals to support development of their corridor and bauxite mine. White hopes the proposal will limit migration and create thousands of agriculture jobs. Working with Vedanta in Zambia, ImpactAgri is developing a large-scale horticultural operation utilising the water that is already being 13

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Jon White Jon White is an experienced CEO managing companies and operations in Africa, Europe and the USA. For the last 15 years he has focused on agricultural and landscape solutions to increase yields, save labour, and reduce energy and water consumption whilst reducing runoff and pollution. White’s drive and initiative combined with his vast experience, network and energy in the field helps ensure ImpactAgri’s projects succeed. White’s corporate background includes senior management roles, in world class manufacturing operations at Pirelli in the production of Fibre Optic & Power Cables, and as VP EMEA of Netafim, the world’s leading precision irrigation company. He started his career in the mining industry with British Coal. White has an Honours Degree from the University of Leeds in Mechanical Engineering.

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extracted from the mine. The goal is for the agribusiness to employ more people than the mine itself within a few years and create a significant source of fruit and vegetables for the region.

Longer term development will create high-value tree crops such as nuts and citrus for export. Elsewhere, ImpactAgri is working with other companies to identify the potential for agricultural solutions to remediate land and add value to legacy assets.

White explains that sustainable 14

intensification on ex-mining sites can also be hugely positive: “In Zambia, ImpactAgri is working with local partners to plant specific tree types on used and spent copper tailings. It looks like the moon, but by replanting the right type of crops, you can create biofuels. In turn, those biofuels can be a shared crop for our food crops.” He stresses that it’s important to value the natural capital with efficient use of water, understand the value of soil health and manage the impact on natural ecosystems.

Once these agribusinesses are given the opportunity to flourish, it’s vital to secure access-to-market by building the value chain, asserts White.

“Sadly, there are many examples in Africa – whether a cassava plant for flour or a tomato factory – where the whole value chain hasn’t been addressed. Whether it’s the upstream, where they are going to sell, or the logistics to move the products, an integrated and holistic view of the requirements at each stage of the value chain are essential.”

New technologies and innovative approaches are key. White is excited about a couple of projects in development that will mix solar PV with agribusiness. “Mines need power, lots of power… If you can install a 50 MW solar panel installation with hydroponics you can farm underneath the panels.

It’s a useful approach when land is not suitable for traditional agriculture and we can actually take some of that energy and use it for processing crops like cocoa and vegetables; for washing them and for cooling. Having that energy source on site can be a wonderful thing.”

Mining companies can spend millions of dollars on CSR schemes but too often it’s wasted stresses White. “Building hospitals and schools is a great thing to w w w.i mpa c t a g r i. com

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C O M PA N Y I N F O

Making a difference with impactful partnerships “Our network enables us to bring in big players to make big things happen,” says ImpactAgri’s founder and CEO Jon White.

“For example, AFGRI in South Africa is one of our key partners providing agriculture services across the region: grain management and storage; equipment and financial services to support full-scale commercial farming. You need alliances

with organisations capable of operational excellence in each country who understand its complexities to be able to deliver results.” ImpactAgri is also working with companies like Rubicon Integrated Services, who offer their expertise in community infrastructure improvement, water technologies, disease vector eradication and road building.

do… But if there isn’t a network in the community and a tax system to pay for teachers and doctors, every year they have to keep financing the project. This ends up being a cash drain while they’re being vilified for not creating other jobs.”

He argues that projects need to offer real jobs that generate tax to be self-sustaining. “We believe you can take your CSR budget, and make it into a cash generator. Not a cost,” he pledges.

“That’s the advantage of working with ImpactAgri.”

Within each country it operates, ImpactAgri identifies strong off-take partners for specific crops… For example, in Uganda, the company is allied with one of the biggest traders of macadamia nuts. “The ideal model is to start with a farm as a commercial entity that supports the business in terms of paying for equipment, off-take and processing,” says White. “But as we expand, we’d rather work with the farmers on their own land, under contract to actually deliver services to them such as irrigation systems, equipment and help with off-take. It’s very inclusive.”

Hampton highlights the constant challenge to secure financing. “On w w w.i mpa c t a g r i. com

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a US$40m project, the hardest funds

hard to find investors for individual

to raise are the first $1-2mn for the

greenfield sites. To secure returns he

environmental assessment and

recommends a minimum 10-year cycle

feasibility studies. No one wants to

as these are long-term projects where

pay for that. It’s too small for most

you need to plan for a year when yields

investors, and the bigger investors

are less than ideal, while Hampton

want that to be done before they

warns against the perception that

consider getting involved…” ImpactAgri

brownfield sites can offer a quicker

has developed a portfolio that diversi-

turnaround: “In Africa, it’s often better

fies the risks but White concedes it’s

to build something from scratch than

try to turn around someone else’s

financiers and lawyers on ‘Wall Street’

problem project.”

but we also have people capable of

ImpactAgri’s minimum goal is to

going out in the field to tackle unique

generate half a billion dollars of

agricultural challenges alongside the

investment in agricultural projects by

communities we engage with. Ultimate-

2025. The current pipeline is already

ly, you can’t simply buy into a project in

over $300mn with more funding

Africa sitting in an office, you have to go

imminent. “We’ve found a unique

out there and make it happen.”

proposition,” says Hampton. “We have people in our team happy talking to

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ImpactAgri (Holdings) Ltd First floor 1 Suffolk Way Sevenoaks Kent T +33 (6) 30 17 50 01 (Jon White) www.impactagri.com