The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) is collaborating with local partners in the sugarcane industry to reduce environmental and social impacts of sugarcane farming, in an initiative that focuses on sustainable agriculture.
Agricultural products are ingredients in almost all the beverages produced and manufactured by Coca-Cola, therefore a healthy agricultural supply chain does become the direct concern of the organization.
The programme is centred near Noodsberg, which is a small community in the Midlands of the KZN. This area's principal economy is the sugarcane industry. This collaboration is with TCCC, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Noodsberg Cane Growers Association, and aims to provide technical farming support to smallholder farmers and bio-security support to commercial farmers.
TCCC’s director of Sustainable Agriculture, Denise Knight is currently visiting South Africa for a series of meetings with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector in KwaZulu Natal (KZN). “The aim of this trip is to strengthen collaboration in this sector and help shape the initiatives’ strategies”, Denise said.
TCCC’s partnership with the WWF is a critical part of the sustainable agriculture strategy. The partnership promotes sustainable agriculture in the supply chain, focusing on the production of sugarcane and more recently on oranges and corn – three of the high volume agricultural ingredients used in our beverages. In South Africa, the focus is solely on sugarcane.
In South Africa, through the WWF and The Mondi Wetlands Programme, partnerships have been created with the Noodsberg Canegrowers Association to strengthen and expand collaboration between commercial sugarcane growers and disadvantaged, smallholder farms. In this partnership, commercial farmers assist smallholders to establish cooperatives with improved farm layouts and better management practices. Trainers work with the cooperatives to map farmland and create appropriate contours for proper erosion control and drainage.
Kevin Ogorzalek, WWF Director said, “The programme was started in January 2010 and is estimated to run until the end of December 2014. Project objectives include doubling smallholder sugarcane farmer yields and income, while reducing farm impact on freshwater resources. In addition, the programme must establish a monitoring and evaluation system, to quantify freshwater benefits”.
“Through the WWWF we have worked with smallholder growers to establish two new cooperatives that organize small farms into larger operating area – Zakhokuhle and Shapheme”, said Denise.
The Zakhokuhle cooperative will employ 75 people and create a 60 ha seed can nursery that will eventually supply seed to over 500 ha of smallholder farms. The second cooperative, Shapheme, will involve 47 farmers and benefit 88 additional dependents.
The sustainable agriculture strategy is being executed through a framework built on three elements: working with key partners to identify risks and opportunities (Engage); fostering innovation through pilot projects in key regions (Innovate); and making use of validation mechanisms to verify that sustainability criteria are being met (Validate). Through these elements, the company works with partners and agricultural suppliers to guide the industry towards more sustainable practices.
To support this initiative, Denise added that the undertakings in South Africa focuses on the environmental impacts, social implications and economic pressures present in local agricultural supply chains.
“By initiating pilot projects in key regions like the KZN, to address present and future challenges we are able to create opportunities to explore alternative sustainable agricultural methods,” she added. These collaborations are aimed at increasing understanding and ultimately meeting customer requirements.
By training sugarcane farmers on sustainable management practices the organization aims at creating shared benefits for farmers and communities as a whole.
An element of the vision of TCCC is to strive to refresh the world by creating value and making a difference. “As we champion the cause of sustainable agriculture in South Africa, we are mitigating the impact of sugarcane production on freshwater resources and eco-systems and share the principles that guide how we as a company operate,” she concluded.
