How one agribusiness company is putting good corporate governance into practice
Values are critical to success in business to day. From agribusiness to advertising, a company’s core values lay the foundation for what the company cares about most, providing a common purpose that all employees should understand, work towards and live by. Companies without values tend to fall prey to internal chaos and reputational risk. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Biosylx’s sister company Biosylx LTD has a
microfinancing project to assist Darfur women
to earn an income by harvesting, cleaning
and selling Gum Acacia at fair prices
It takes more than writing up a set of high-sounding principles to establish an integrated corporate value-system. Corporate values should resonate throughout a company’s value chain, driving decision-making and activities from sourcing to distribution. One agribusiness company leading the way in this regard is Biosylx, the Paarl-based global supplier of premium plantbased products such as gums, resins, cold-pressed seed oils, essential oils and baobab superfood powder, among others.
The Biosylx business model is founded on three pillars, which are to build strong and long-term relationships with suppliers and customers by being true to the company’s values, improve farmers’ and workers’ livelihoods by offering them a living income, and source natural ingredients sustainably by minimizing the environmental impact of the company’s activities.
These pillars, which map onto the three Ps of good corporate governance (People, Planet, Profit) are overlapping and mutually reinforcing. Suzanne Barnard, who heads up Research & Development and Corporate Social Responsibility at Biosylx, explains: “Our company values include excellent customer service, quality, integrity, teamwork, mutual respect, care for our communities and environment and trust. We strive to deliver quality products on time with full traceability from source to end user or buyer.
In Lesotho, Biosylx has supplied school gardens
and families with seed boxes to sustain children
during school hours and at home and plans to
assist in the restoration of school buildings
By being directly present and invested in the producing countries, we are empowered to make a significant socio-economic difference in those regions and improve the livelihoods of the locals with whom we partner. Our ethos also focuses on being environmentally conscious and taking the biodiversity of wildlife into account throughout the entire value chain.” People: Community upliftment and social initiatives Biosylx operates on the principle that “charity begins at home”. That means prioritizing the well-being of the communities who harvest the materials at the base of the company ’s value chain, whether it’s rose hips in Lesotho, baobab powder in Mozambique or gum Acacia from Acacia trees in Darfur, Sudan. “We see our harvesters/ farmers as an extension to our team and if they are well looked after then our team is well looked after. Everyone can share in the benefits. We believe in improving the livelihoods for the farmers and workers by offering them a fair price for the goods that we purchase. We also offer micro-financing in Sudan for the farmers that we source our gum Acacia from in order for them to secure crops in advance and also guarantee an income for their household,” says Barnard.
By uplifting the community, the company
ensures that everyone has healthy
lives and wellbeing at all ages
“ We have a dedicated responsible contact at source to assist, abide and maintain the relationship with the community on the ground. Normally these communities exclusively supply us and our social initiatives also involve them specifically.” Planet: Sustainable sourcing Sustainable sourcing helps to ensure that the company’s activities are as environmentally friendly as possible.
“ We source from suppliers and communities that have the necessary permits and certification in order to access the specific material. We take biodiversity and wildlife into account when we buy from the local communities.
Some of the things we take into account are compliance with CITES (through Cape Nature), UEBT and Rain Forest Alliance (which we are implementing for one of our products in 2023 ), the Nagoya Protocol and Accessand Benefit Sharing Programs,” explains Barnard.
Here, skills development reaps a high sustainability dividend.
“ We train the local communities on sustainable harvesting practices in order to maintain the health of the natural resources,” says Barnard.
In Darfur, for example, Biosylx’s sister company Biosylx LTD has a project to empower women by educating them to implement good gum harvesting practices. This generates incomes and raises the overall well-being of the community. The environment also benefits. That’s because in addition to producing gums, fodder and firewood, Acacia trees help maintain agricultural favourable conditions by acting as a buffer to protect crops against heavy rain and wind erosion and restoring soil fertility. “Customers are invited to collaborate with Biosylx on the social initiatives and many do,” says Barnard.
Credits: Pexels
Profit: Developing new products Biosylx is continuously on the look-out for new opportunities to source, process and distribute organic products. In practice, this means identifying an opportunity and, where viable, developing a new supply chain that integrates the company’s values and principles. Barnard breaks it down: “Firstly we will assess the area from where the material is sourced and if it is done sustainably with the necessary permits and according to the specific programs ie Nagoya Protocol and UEBT.
The supply chain will also only be set-up if we are supporting the harvester or farmer at source and that they are receiving the correct income or amount for the goods.” In this context, transparency and traceability are paramount.
“Relationships with customers are kept completely transparent concerning the situation at source, during processing and logistics and with our social initiatives. Full traceability has to exist from the organization at source to our customer. Our business model makes it easier to comply with Good Corporate Governance (profit, people, planet),” concludes Barnard.
To contact Biosylx please click here: https://agri4africa.com/listing/biosylx/
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Article Source: https://www.harvestsa.co.za/current-issue/
