Creating a local sorghum supply chain in Sierra Leone 48 Sierra Leone Brewing a Better Future Millennium Development Goals HAF also contributed to the Well Woman Clinic in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This was opened in May 2010 with support from our local Sierra Leone Brewery and The Melvine Edith Patricia Stuart Trust, a local charity. The clinic provides free screening to pregnant women, which enables the early detection of complications. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases For the past ten years, Heineken has provided employees and their families with HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes that include free education, counselling, testing and treatment. In 2010, we began assisting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in our supply chain to set up their own HIV/AIDS programme, similar to our own; where it concerns preventive activities, access to treatment is organised through the public sector. Now we reach for instance truck drivers, security guards and contract workers. An innovative partnership between Guinness Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries and Unilever Nigeria has advanced a model for supply chain engagement that could be deployed across Africa. In Nigeria, together with Diageo and Unilever and support from the German Gesellschaft fiir Technischen Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and The Nigerian Business coalition on HIV AIDS (NIBUCAA), our own HIV workplace programme has been expanded to nine SMEs (three from each partner). This allows us to reach an additional 14,000 employees in the supply chain of these companies, of which over 8,000 are in companies working with Nigerian Breweries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are working with GTZ to help 19 of our supply chain SMEs reach out to an additional 2,500 employees. In June 2010, three of Heineken's Africa programmes were commended by the Global Business Coalition, an NG0 fighting against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The first programme involves our investment in mosquito nets impregnated with insecticides to reduce malaria in Rwanda. This initiative was funded by HAF. The second programme related to the previously mentioned extension of the HIV/AIDS services to the supply chain in Nigeria. Finally, we were commended for our HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria workplace programmes. Because barley doesn't grow in tropical climates, the Sierra Leone Breweries Limited (SLBL) used to import the crop from Europe. This was expensive, generated additional carbon emissions, provided no incremental benefit in terms of employment or income for the local population and exposed the brewery to undesirable exchange rate fluctuations and logistical complications. In 2005, SLBL joined together with several partners to create a truly sustainable solution. The partners were the Common Fund for Commodities, a European co-funding partner, the European Cooperative for Rural Development, which provided agricultural expertise, and Vancil Enterprises, a local implementation office. "First, a Nigerian sorghum cultivar was optimised for Sierra Leonean conditions. Then, we showed farmers how to grow, harvest, package and transport sorghum in a profitable way. We also supported them with seeds, fertilizer and micro-credits," explains Cor Honkoop, the brewer's General Manager. SLBL made another crucial contribution that is at the heart of our innovative approach. "We guaranteed farmers we would buy a set amount of sorghum and pay a fixed price cash on delivery," says Cor. Volumes were low the first three years because farmers had to gain trust in those promises. Once they saw the brewery consistently kept its word, volumes went up from 20 tons in the first year to a projected 500 tons in 2011. The project is a resounding success: the supply chain is stable, effective and financially beneficial to farmers and the brewery. "The brewery gets a quality crop at a lower price and with lower emissions. In turn, we provide a stable income for 1,600 farm families, which has helped them to improve their quality of life," says Cor. The value chain will exist indefinitely and the brewery will take over the tasks of the other project partners over the next three years. "This is what sustainability should be like: we have set up something that is valuable and structural. Similar projects are being planned in Burundi and Rwanda," says Cor. More examples of the important work done by HAF can be found in the Heineken Cares section of this report.

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Heineken - Milieuverslag | 2010 | | pagina 50