GREEN FUEL CSR WORK: EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH VIMBO PROJECTS

In a space where women are profoundly disadvantaged in the village of Chisumbanje in Chipinge South in Zimbabwe, Green Fuel has developed projects that ensure the empowerment of women and education of the girl child.

Green Fuel is a biofuel company in Zimbabwe that produces ethanol sugarcane to supply the Southern region with a clean, efficient, and renewable fuel source.

Green Fuel has a remarkable Corporate social responsibility program that is highly beneficial to the local community, aptly named “Vimbo –Hope for a Better Future.” The Vimbo projects are centred around business, sustainable farming practices, while tackling women’s critical issues of a lack of education and empowerment.

Community Irrigation Schemes And Outgrower Schemes

This project was the hallmark of Green Fuel’s CSR portfolio. The company developed a total of 1,600ha of Community Irrigation Schemes and Outgrower Schemes. At the start of the project, the company committed to developing 10% of all land under sugarcane in Chisumbanje for the community. Today, 1000ha of land has been developed for small scale farmers from the community and 660ha for outgrower farmers, benefiting over 2,600 families through one of the biggest communal irrigation schemes. This project has empowered women to have financial independence by enabling them to grow vegetables for subsistence and for selling. Women in agriculture including Mollen Zongond have benefitted from this product, allowing them to provide for their families and themselves.

“This project has empowered me as a wife and mother. I do not have to wait on my husband for everything, but I can now grow crops such as vegetables and tomatoes for sale and use the money I get to look after my children and any household needs."

MANNA CREATIVE FASHIONS (MCF)

Manna Creative Fashions is one of Green Fuel’s most successful community projects thus far. This is a sewing factory that was established in 2014 to train community members in sewing and production, as well as Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) training on how to develop and grow their small businesses. Today MCF produces upto 5000 work suits for employees every for their biggest client, Green Fuel. MCF consists of more women than men and this project enables them to provide their families, while gaining business skills to grow their own businesses.

“Our lives have changed a lot. Before MCF, we were at home, unemployed, now we are employed earning a decent living. I have managed to build a house and I can now send my children to school and support my parents and siblings all at the same time.”

- Prescah Ndindana (MCF Supervisor)

MCF now receives orders from the local schools and sports teams in the Chisumbanje area.

DERMAL CARE – REUSABLE SANITARY PADS

Green Fuel introduced Dermal Care to its CSR portfolio due to the problems that young girls in the communities were facing with lack of access to adequate sanitary ware. Based on a survey conducted in 2014, 20% of girls missed school due to menstruation and 62% missed school due to lack of adequate sanitary ware. Green Fuel introduced re-usable pads as an affordable and clean alternative for women and girls in both rural communities and urban areas where sanitary ware is not affordable. The factory is run by five members of the local community who produce reusable pads and sell them to Green Fuel, who donate to young girls at local primary and secondary schools, and the wider community. Dermal Care has grown significantly with the amount of orders increasing from big cities such as Mutare and Harare. The factory consists mostly of female workers who have found a great source of income and a sense of purpose from helping fellow women and children with reusable sanitary ware.

“I like being a part of this project. Not only because it is a source of income for me and my family, but because of the many things I have learnt along the way about women and menstruation. I have come to appreciate what women experience and now have a better understanding of their needs. I have a daughter and I am certain that I will be a better mother to her because of this. There is obviously the benefit of having acquired skill and management of small business project, which is a lot. Reusable pads are cheap and affordable”

- Providence Gonon’ono

BLESSED HONEY MAKERS – BEE KEEPING PROJECT

This project started in 2018 after extensive training from Green Fuel's resident bee-keeper.

A number of bee boxes have been set up around the Estate and within the community and an apiary has been developed for the team. Green Fuel continues to assist with equipment, training and support and, as a result, the team is now harvesting organic honey on a regular and sustainable basis, which is then sold to community residents and company staff. Women are part of this projects, as they learn the art of bee-keeping and production of honey.

"All of this we learnt from the training that GreenFuel organized for us and we are forever grateful."

- Esinath Chipimo

The development of women in the community of Chisumbanje and neighboring communitis, is at the forefront of Green Fuel’s CSR work. When women are empowered, a community thrives. Profits that are made from these projects help women to provide for their families, build homes and develop themselves.

Vimbo has many other projects such as the bursary program that covers school fees for children from the community, the netball team that harnesses the talent of young girls in the community.

And recently, Green Fuel launched a science lab at Checheche High School in December with the aim of introducing STEM subject at the school, offering a wider choice for the students at Checheche and neighboring schools in the community. All these projects are beneficial to young girls and women through education and empowerment.

SustyVibes:

EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES TO TAKE ACTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Nigeria, much like many other nations, is confronted with the adverse effects of climate change. These effects are manifested in altered rainfall patterns, escalated temperatures, and heightened instances of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. The resultant impact extends to several areas, including agriculture, food security, and water resources, among others.

To address the challenge of climate change, Nigeria has developed a comprehensive set of goals and commitments outlined in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These commitments include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% unconditionally and 45% conditionally by 2030. Additionally, Nigeria has implemented various policies and programs, such as the National Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy and the Renewable Energy Master Plan, to combat the effects of climate change.

Despite notable efforts, progress has faced challenges due to a lack of financial resources, ineffective institutional and regulatory frameworks, and insufficient public awareness and education.

SustyVibes is an organization dedicated to actively mitigating the impacts of climate change by engaging with communities and promoting tree planting. The Communitrees project is one of several inspiring initiatives in which SustyVibes is invest- ed. Additionally, the Susty School initiative offers masterclasses and short sessions aimed at educating young people on practical sustainability topics.

Jennifer Uchendu,is a self-motivated changemaker whose passion for the earth and its people is deeply ingrained in her DNA. She is an accomplished Nigerian environmentalist and social entrepreneur. She established SustyVibes, a non-governmental organization in 2016.

Mrs. Uchendu has been widely recognized for her outstanding work with SustyVibes and has received numerous awards, including the 2019 African Youth Awards for Environmental Sustainability and the 2020 Goldman Sachs and Fortune Global Women Leaders Award.

The NGO's key objective is to promote sustainable living and environmental conservation by encouraging young people to take action on environmental issues and embrace sustainable lifestyles.

Since its establishment, the NGO which has its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria has activated several engagements to “.. attract individuals who are passionate about creating sustainable lifestyles for the planet and all its inhabitants.”

Covert Sustainability: How Effective Are Sustainability Certification Entities?

By Peter Kinuthia Murimi

It was with great shock that the world watched and followed on the recent expose by the BBC released on Sunday of 19th February 2023 entitled “Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea.” In the expose, the viewers were taken through the ordeals that women go through to secure jobs in the tea plantations in Kenya, and the horrendous experience they have to endure to keep the same jobs. Specifically, the top managers and those entrusted with the governance and management of these tea estates are captured preying on women for sexual favors so that they can get jobs and better working conditions and terms. In the expose, up to 70 women claimed how they have had to endure sexual exploitation to have jobs and keep them. The women are vulnerable because they have children that need support and finding work in Kenya or anywhere else has become very hard in the current hard economic times. Ever since its release, the expose and the report has elicited debate and strong sentiments from a wide range of parties ranging from parliamentarians in the country, the office of high commissioner for United Kingdom to Kenya, civil society groups, gender-based violence activists, law enforcers, and the general public.

The implicated tea plantations are managed and owned by British based corporation of James Finleys and Unilever, and they are the largest exporters of Kenyan tea to the European market. The tea is responsible for the popular tea brands such as Linton, the most popular in the United Kingdom and other European countries. One of the most notable aspects about the expose is that these tea brands are certified by the reputable organizations such as the Fairtrade, which is responsible for ensuring that the companies involved in production and manufacturing of popular beverages such as tea and coffee are sustainable and every part of the supply chain is compliant to the underlain sustainable standards. Fairtrade is responsible for certifying entities such as James Finleys and other entities involved in production of popular beverages like coffee. Consumers and the market have become interested in purchasing products from companies that are certified as it is believed their production processes and the entire supply chain is ethical and up to the global sustainability standards that have been enforced by organizations such as the United Nations.

However, in watching an expose such as this, one cannot beg to question how effective and thorough are certifying bodies such as Fairtrade in their work. Are they just being used to label and boost the marketability of these products? Do they only focus on the economic pillar and the environmental pillar of sustainability at the expense of the social pillar that touches on the people and individuals involved in the production chain? Isn’t this a case of covert sustainability, which is only good in the labelling and paper work? Covert sustainability is as good as greenwashing, where emitting companies tend to invest in a single process to prove their compliance to sustainability just to cover up their destructive damage of the emissions they are releasing to the environment.

From a global corporate perspective, Fairtrade is considered to be the most recognized ethical label in the world, having being involved in certifying agriproduct companies working with over 2 million farmers from different parts of the world. As such, one would be tempted to ask what mechanisms that Fairtrade and other certifying bodies use to ensure that the casuals and the farmers working at the lowest levels have their basic rights protected and that they are working in the best of the working conditions. It is time that the world starts closely scrutinizing the agencies involved in certifications of companies, especially when it comes to the dimensions of sustainability and sustainable development. As much as corporations tend to be biased on profits and brand equity, it is important to also ensure that the casuals that are working at the lowest levels are protected from gender-based violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of negative exploitation. It is worth noting that the implicated companies affirm to have an elaborate zero tolerance for sexual harassment, and have policies on the same. However, the same is not enforced, or there no mechanisms or channels that the victims can use to air their grievances and complaints.

In their website, Fairtrade has a section of standards on Decent Work, which affirm its objective of protecting the basic rights of all the workers, and especially ensuring that they have and are entitled to a safe working environment. The standards also indicate the objective to empower the workers so that they can negotiate the working conditions and also prohibit any form of discrimination. However, once again, how effective is the enforcement of the same, and who performs the periodic auditing to ascertain that there no unethical activities happening in any stage of the production cycle. Fairtrade has come out to condemn the sexual harassment in the report, and in their report, they recommend having institutions and policies that would ensure there are women in senior leadership positions in such entities. One may ask the question where it is a question of gender representation in the management, or it is simply a question of broken morals, or weak mechanisms to enforce the already established policies on sustainability and sexual harassment. Does having women in leadership cushion women in lower levels from sexual harassment? One may ask.

For the companies that have been implicated in the scandal, they need to move with speed to give an official statement on the matter. Although they have fired the senior management captured in the expose, there is a need to issue a comprehensive statement of how they intend to prevent the same from happening in the future. There should be active reporting channels that victims can use to reach those involved in certification, and ensure the allegations are investigated thoroughly. This will ensure that even the lowest of the casual in the workforce has a voice and a way of airing unfair treatment and working conditions.