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CSR Mission Statement Talentos 1 BV
Talentos 1 BV runs a state-of-the-art Macadamia farm (G&F Macadamia Lda. in Mozambique), focusing on economic growth, care for the planet and sustainable community development:
- We build a viable business as the foundation for creating quality jobs, fostering further economic development of the area.
- We farm conventional in an ecological sustainable way showing green alternatives and optimal use of natural resources.
- Healthy and well-trained employees as well as a flourishing community are part of our stewardship mission.
Talentos
Sustainable entrepreneurship, both in terms of employment and nature and its resources. Talentos is a group of entrepreneurs from the Netherlands, who are involved in numerous organizations and projects.
Introduction G&F Macadamia
G&F is a large macadamia plantation in Gurué Mozambique. The land is about 830 hectares: that’s about 1600 soccer fields next to and behind each other. A large part of this is not cultivate because it is quite hilly and we have a natural forest with Eucalyptus trees.
However, about 300 hectares are now being used to grow Macadamias, this is equivalent to about 80,000 trees. These are largely still young trees that produce a small quantity of nuts. It is expected that in the coming years, as more trees mature, the harvest will steadily increase to a yield of about 1000 tons (=1million kilograms). After that, it is expected that the yield will stabilize. Since 2014 we have experienced many ups and downs, but it seems that the big growth we predicted is now really going to happen.
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Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR is the abbreviation for Corporate Social Responsibility. At Talentos, this means that we pay sustained attention to the social consequences of our activities in the short and long term. CSR is about employees, customers, suppliers, the environment. In short: society. We can only be successful if we not only pursue economic success, but also achieve our environmental, climate and social goals.
CSR company statement
G&F Macadamia is committed to acting with integrity and working in a responsible manner. This Code of Conduct describes our values and gives clear directions to our employees and management on how to do business. Our Corporate Social Responsibility priorities are integrated in this Code of Conduct.
Values G&F Macadamia
We adhere to essential principles of respect, fairness and decent remuneration, as well as transparency, honesty and keeping promises.
Respecting Human Rights
Labour Practices
The Environment
Fair Operating Practices
Customer Interest
Supply Chain Responsibility
Impact on Local Communities
Good Governance
Values G&F Macadamia
We adhere to essential principles of respect, fairness and decent remuneration, as well as transparency, honesty and keeping promises.
1. Respecting Human Rights
G&F Macadamia has adopted a clear HR Policy in 2022 to ensure a healthy working climate. To retain loyal and productive staff, it is vital to maintain a good working environment. Our Disciplinary Code and Procedure helps to safeguard a good and safe working environment. The HR policy elaborates on fair opportunities and equality for all staff. Health and safety policies, procedures and training ensure that G&F Macadamia is a preferred employer. All staff receive relevant training before they start a new task e.g. before working with chemicals. Personal growth of employees is being discussed in the annual appraisal meetings.
We pay fair wages to skilled workers and a bonus to whom perform well. Unskilled workers get a higher salary then the minimum wage to bridge the gap to living wage as we calculated based on the prices and reality in Gurué. The Syndicate and counsellors monitor the organization and have right to address undesirable situations to the management of the company.
Workers of G&F Macadamia work less (45) than the legal maximum hours per week (48) and no forced labour is tolerated. All new employees have to show their ID document to guarantee no child labour is possible.
2. Labour Practices
Regarding the labour practices like ‘Health and Safety at work’ and the ‘Development of training in the workplace’ the HR policy sets a clear framework. Additional measurements will have to be taken with the Global GAP certification that is work in progress in 2022. G&F Macadamia has a strong commitment to prevention of hazards on the farm.
3. The Environment
The company works according to the obligatory 5-year Environmental Impact Assessment and (since 2022) the annual brief audit starting November 2022. G&F Macadamia is monitoring the identified risks and has committed herself to continuous mitigation of the risks.
Prevention of pollution is an important spearpoint for our company. Good training of our staff on a well-prepared mixing point must avoid spillage and pollution in ground water. In preparation of the Global GAP certification a proper soak away mixing point has been established and must always be used. Other measurements include but are not limited to are cleaning the containers of the chemicals before disposal, and after washing them they are locked away in a fenced area. Disposal of oil engine takes place via M.T.N. (supplier) upon receipt of a certificate.
Bins for organic waste are used at all our houses. Organic waste (from pruning and the husks of the nuts) are being used to compost to minimalize use of fertilizer (limiting greenhouse gasses). Adaption of the farming practices (e.g. mulching and planting ground cover) have resulted in the fact that smaller and fewer tractors are being used. Ongoing assessment must identify other opportunities to implement more ecological sustainable solutions.
Responsible water management can be secured since the company has built a large dam to aggregate sufficient (rain) water to not compete with the local population. The use of LED lights and switching of lights after leaving the office have become common practice and will continue to be the standard. Solar panels will be used as much as possible (e.g. provide power to the security points).
Clustering transport movements to town to go to the bank and do the shopping further limit the air pollution; it is our goal to go to Gurué town only once a week.
4. Fair Operating Practices
G&F Macadamia has a written policy preventing bribery, corruption and fraud stipulated in the HR policy and Disciplinary Code and Procedure. Both the policy and the code are communicated to new staff at signing the contract. Since the company will primarily sell to wholesale companies (B2B) we will continue to be alert on fair competition by providing all relevant information to the potential buyers to allow them to offer a competitive price.
Protection of property rights and landownership is of crucial importance in Mozambique. G&F Macadamia respects the right of the communities. At least annually sr. management will communicate with the local leaders of the communities to identify if there are any issues or disputes that require attention. The official boundaries of UP11 (the farm) are clearly defined in the land title (DUAT, officially registered) and borders are marked with concrete landmarks.
5. Customer Interest
G&F Macadamia produces high value food products and hence we value to implement food safety rules and regulations in our business. To our direct off-takers we strive to have a positive and lasting impression of our company, aiming as high customer satisfaction and retention. By implementing Global GAP we ensure safety and quality of or products for export and strive to communicate in a transparent way to be a trustworthy and reliable supplier.
Food safety starts at the source, in this case our farm. Minimizing chemicals and thorough monitoring of the processing of the NIS to transport is well documented to support traceability trough the value chain.
6. Supply Chain Responsibility
G&F Macadamia has assessed the main suppliers. Every year we will give a follow up on our due diligence to check on their code of conduct. The company will request renewel of certain certificates and we monitor if they adhere to child labour and unfair practices. G&F Macadamia will always use transparent bidding procedures in case of capital expenditures. Local suppliers in Mozambique are carefully selected and a strategic choice is made to work with international suppliers where possible. In contracting G&F first request the CSR policy of the supplier and after approval we ensure fair payment terms.
Annual screening of the relevant sustainability issues in the supply chain must be performed and reported to the Board. If certain threats or issues have been identified a joint action plan with the supplier must address and improve the issue within a year.
7. Impact on Local Communities
G&F Macadamia prides herself to be the best employer in Gurue region, taking care of our employers and positively impact their families. Decent jobs and a fair HR policy contribute to strengthen local communities. Trough social projects additional impact is generated. The company facilitates this project in various ways:
- Bee keeping project: training and facilitating beekeepers on designated areas in the farm to create more jobs and additional income for the local community. The company organises the training, facilitates the tools and equipment and links the beekeepers to the market, benefitting from the higher yields trough cross pollination
- Food crop production by the local community: the company will grant in between 1-4 ha of land and prepare it to train Good Agricultural Practices to the local community. Good quality inputs and introduction of better techniques will assumingly increase the production of food crops on the local vegetable gardens (machamba’s).
8. Good Governance
In the vision of G&F Macadamia an important part of good stewardship is good governance. G&F Macadamia values the well-being of the workers, providing equal opportunities to man and women alike, work in a resource efficient way, taking care of the planet. The board of directors not only monitors the performance of the company on business economics but also on their social impact to the community and the sustainable use of the natural resources on and around the farm. The director and senior management have been tasked to become Global GAP certified and work according to the ETI principles to enforce a CSR strategy that pro-actively addresses environmental and social-economic issues that can be improved.
Every year the company the suppliers will be evaluated, request for the code of conduct and discuss if there are issues that can be improved. From 2023 onwards the company will have their own code of conduct and will share this with the suppliers.
GROW TOGETHER
Do you have questions, comments or suggestions? Then you can always contact us!