Sustainable Development: How Big Business Helps Small Companies
According to UN forecasts, by 2040 the world's population will increase from 7 to 9 billion people. This means that the demand for resources will grow exponentially, and the influence of people on the environment will grow many times over. Based on these forecasts, the governments of developed countries have developed a new approach to work - sustainable development, which implies a significant improvement in human living conditions, minimizing the impact on the environment. Are there any enterprises in Kazakhstan that adhere to the principles of sustainable development, we understand here Foreign companies in Kazakhstan were the first to start implementing the principles of sustainable development not only in their own business, but also among local communities, product suppliers.
Sustainable development in rural areas of Kazakhstan
In the Enbekshikazakh district of the Almaty region, the project "Chilik Farmers" is being implemented. The Local Communities Foundation, with the support of Philip Morris Kazakhstan (PMK), has created a unique cooperative that unites small farms. And if earlier the individual farmers could not provide the volumes and stability of their products supply necessary for partners, then, by combining efforts, putting the whole process of growing vegetables on a scientific track and acting as a single legal entity, the participants of the cooperative established the supply of their products to large food enterprises, in retail chains and restaurants. The success of such a merger is best evidenced by the numbers: in the year of registration of the cooperative as a legal entity (2017), the agrarians sold 124 tons of products for 12 million tenge, and last year they managed to grow 233 tons of vegetables, the cooperative's proceeds amounted to 33 million tenge.
“If in 2017 each farmer of the cooperative earned 1 million tenge, then last year it was already 5.37 million tenge. We realized that working in a cooperative is profitable, farmers only need to grow products, and sales, marketing, logistics, and accounting problems are solved by people for hire, ”said Bakhytgul Yelchibaeva, executive director of the Yenbekshikazakh District Community Fund.
PMK started supporting local farmers in 2013, and in the same year the first agricultural center was built in Chilik. Annual investments amounted to $ 200 thousand.
“Our tobacco suppliers were located in Chilik, so we decided to support local communities. For more than 20 years of operation, the company has allocated more than $ 8 million to charitable projects, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva, head of procurement at PMK.
Local support of an international company always depends on the request of local communities. The villagers of the Enbekshikazakh region needed new agricultural technologies, modern business practices. Through the joint efforts of PMK and local residents, over several years of the project's implementation, the area of cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses has increased 25 times, and the profitability of labor has increased.
“The farmers are convinced that it is profitable to grow vegetables in greenhouses, as the agricultural season increases, they can work and earn income all year round. They went through a kind of business school and created the basis for their own economic stability. This is a good example of sustainable development, when more than one company grows, but the social and economic environment of the entire district is stimulated, ”says PMK's Procurement Manager.Community development through suppliers of international companies
The Chilik Farmers project became a trial balloon for Philip Morris Kazakhstan. In 2017, PMK launched a program aimed at involving suppliers in joint work on sustainable development. This work is based on human rights, environmental and business ethics requirements.“These principles apply to all existing suppliers. Choosing a new partner or re-evaluating existing ones, we check to what extent our suppliers are ready to change, to contribute to the sustainable development agenda, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva.Today more than 300 local businesses supply goods or provide services to PMK. At the same time, the company monitors compliance with the principles of sustainable development at every stage of production. Thus, clear standards and requirements have been developed that are binding on employees, suppliers and subcontractors. The company notes that the principle of respecting human rights is important for them not only in their own production. For a long time, they worked here to ensure that relations with suppliers fully comply with the principles of respect for human rights. After all, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as the right to development, are interrelated and develop as a whole. It is a systematic approach that helps develop society and business, according to PMK.
Community development through suppliers of international companies
The Chilik Farmers project became a trial balloon for Philip Morris Kazakhstan. In 2017, PMK launched a program aimed at involving suppliers in joint work on sustainable development. This work is based on human rights, environmental and business ethics requirements.
“These principles apply to all existing suppliers. Choosing a new partner or re-evaluating existing ones, we check to what extent our suppliers are ready to change, to contribute to the sustainable development agenda, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva. Today more than 300 local businesses supply goods or provide services to PMK. At the same time, the company monitors compliance with the principles of sustainable development at every stage of production. Thus, clear standards and requirements have been developed that are binding on employees, suppliers and subcontractors. The company notes that the principle of respecting human rights is important for them not only in their own production. For a long time, they worked here to ensure that relations with suppliers fully comply with the principles of respect for human rights. After all, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as the right to development, are interrelated and develop as a whole. It is a systematic approach that helps develop society and business, according to PMK. For example, PMK has implemented several processes and systems to verify supplier compliance. One of them is the STEP (Sustainable Transformation Enables Performance) program, aimed at comprehensive verification of partners and assessment of their compliance. With the help of this program, potential risks in the field of the environment, in the social sphere and in management aspects are identified. The assessment is based on the type of product or service, and the list of inherent risks determines the further assessment of the suppliers' performance. “Low-risk companies do not attract our attention, but partners with high or medium-risk levels undergo an extensive survey, and sometimes remote verification,” says Sevara Abdulaeva. The close attention of a large company to the social, environmental aspects of the work of suppliers has already improved the quality of life of many Kazakhstanis. PMK believes that both small and large enterprises must respect the rights of their employees, respect the dignity of all people, and employ people with disabilities. Indeed, in the modern world, it is not enough for companies to work on sustainable development directly within the framework of their business. They also need to replicate and sustain such efforts throughout their supply chain.
Caring for nature
PMK's environmental protection strategy is focused on reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, rational use of water, and reducing production waste. Scientists estimate that supply chain emissions are, on average, 5.5 times higher than industrial emissions from large companies. “Our company is one of the leaders among companies producing consumer goods, in reducing the impact on the environment, from how we buy tobacco leaves to the sale of products,” recalls the interlocutor.
In particular, in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the company installed solar panels for heating water at a factory in Almaty region last year. In addition, the production building was insulated. FMK uses modern technologies to save water and electricity: sensor taps are installed, energy-saving LED lighting is used throughout the entire office building, professional equipment is used for class A + and higher office kitchens. In 2019, the company sent for recycling more than 90% of waste and continues to work to increase this indicator. In particular, for the disposal of paper documents, contracts have been concluded with recycling companies, which in the future use waste as secondary raw materials. “Our sustainability efforts touch every element of the supply chain, from tobacco growers to the 150 million consumers who choose our products. That is why compliance with the principles of sustainable development is the corporate strategy of PMI, ”concluded Sevara Abdulaeva.
The company intends to continue to work on solving various social and economic problems in the regions of its presence and to contribute to sustainable development despite all the additional difficulties and challenges that the coronavirus pandemic poses for all of us.
Источник: https://m.forbes.kz/process/businessmen/ustoychivoe_razvitie_kak_bolshoy_biznes_pomogaet_malyim_kompaniyam/
Перевод статьи: Мусладин Айдана
Sustainable development in rural areas of Kazakhstan
In the Enbekshikazakh district of the Almaty region, the project "Chilik Farmers" is being implemented. The Local Communities Foundation, with the support of Philip Morris Kazakhstan (PMK), has created a unique cooperative that unites small farms. And if earlier the individual farmers could not provide the volumes and stability of their products supply necessary for partners, then, by combining efforts, putting the whole process of growing vegetables on a scientific track and acting as a single legal entity, the participants of the cooperative established the supply of their products to large food enterprises, in retail chains and restaurants. The success of such a merger is best evidenced by the numbers: in the year of registration of the cooperative as a legal entity (2017), the agrarians sold 124 tons of products for 12 million tenge, and last year they managed to grow 233 tons of vegetables, the cooperative's proceeds amounted to 33 million tenge.
“If in 2017 each farmer of the cooperative earned 1 million tenge, then last year it was already 5.37 million tenge. We realized that working in a cooperative is profitable, farmers only need to grow products, and sales, marketing, logistics, and accounting problems are solved by people for hire, ”said Bakhytgul Yelchibaeva, executive director of the Yenbekshikazakh District Community Fund.
PMK started supporting local farmers in 2013, and in the same year the first agricultural center was built in Chilik. Annual investments amounted to $ 200 thousand.
“Our tobacco suppliers were located in Chilik, so we decided to support local communities. For more than 20 years of operation, the company has allocated more than $ 8 million to charitable projects, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva, head of procurement at PMK.
Local support of an international company always depends on the request of local communities. The villagers of the Enbekshikazakh region needed new agricultural technologies, modern business practices. Through the joint efforts of PMK and local residents, over several years of the project's implementation, the area of cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses has increased 25 times, and the profitability of labor has increased.
“The farmers are convinced that it is profitable to grow vegetables in greenhouses, as the agricultural season increases, they can work and earn income all year round. They went through a kind of business school and created the basis for their own economic stability. This is a good example of sustainable development, when more than one company grows, but the social and economic environment of the entire district is stimulated, ”says PMK's Procurement Manager.Community development through suppliers of international companies
The Chilik Farmers project became a trial balloon for Philip Morris Kazakhstan. In 2017, PMK launched a program aimed at involving suppliers in joint work on sustainable development. This work is based on human rights, environmental and business ethics requirements.“These principles apply to all existing suppliers. Choosing a new partner or re-evaluating existing ones, we check to what extent our suppliers are ready to change, to contribute to the sustainable development agenda, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva.Today more than 300 local businesses supply goods or provide services to PMK. At the same time, the company monitors compliance with the principles of sustainable development at every stage of production. Thus, clear standards and requirements have been developed that are binding on employees, suppliers and subcontractors. The company notes that the principle of respecting human rights is important for them not only in their own production. For a long time, they worked here to ensure that relations with suppliers fully comply with the principles of respect for human rights. After all, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as the right to development, are interrelated and develop as a whole. It is a systematic approach that helps develop society and business, according to PMK.
Community development through suppliers of international companies
The Chilik Farmers project became a trial balloon for Philip Morris Kazakhstan. In 2017, PMK launched a program aimed at involving suppliers in joint work on sustainable development. This work is based on human rights, environmental and business ethics requirements.
“These principles apply to all existing suppliers. Choosing a new partner or re-evaluating existing ones, we check to what extent our suppliers are ready to change, to contribute to the sustainable development agenda, ”said Sevara Abdulaeva. Today more than 300 local businesses supply goods or provide services to PMK. At the same time, the company monitors compliance with the principles of sustainable development at every stage of production. Thus, clear standards and requirements have been developed that are binding on employees, suppliers and subcontractors. The company notes that the principle of respecting human rights is important for them not only in their own production. For a long time, they worked here to ensure that relations with suppliers fully comply with the principles of respect for human rights. After all, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as the right to development, are interrelated and develop as a whole. It is a systematic approach that helps develop society and business, according to PMK. For example, PMK has implemented several processes and systems to verify supplier compliance. One of them is the STEP (Sustainable Transformation Enables Performance) program, aimed at comprehensive verification of partners and assessment of their compliance. With the help of this program, potential risks in the field of the environment, in the social sphere and in management aspects are identified. The assessment is based on the type of product or service, and the list of inherent risks determines the further assessment of the suppliers' performance. “Low-risk companies do not attract our attention, but partners with high or medium-risk levels undergo an extensive survey, and sometimes remote verification,” says Sevara Abdulaeva. The close attention of a large company to the social, environmental aspects of the work of suppliers has already improved the quality of life of many Kazakhstanis. PMK believes that both small and large enterprises must respect the rights of their employees, respect the dignity of all people, and employ people with disabilities. Indeed, in the modern world, it is not enough for companies to work on sustainable development directly within the framework of their business. They also need to replicate and sustain such efforts throughout their supply chain.
Caring for nature
PMK's environmental protection strategy is focused on reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, rational use of water, and reducing production waste. Scientists estimate that supply chain emissions are, on average, 5.5 times higher than industrial emissions from large companies. “Our company is one of the leaders among companies producing consumer goods, in reducing the impact on the environment, from how we buy tobacco leaves to the sale of products,” recalls the interlocutor.
In particular, in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the company installed solar panels for heating water at a factory in Almaty region last year. In addition, the production building was insulated. FMK uses modern technologies to save water and electricity: sensor taps are installed, energy-saving LED lighting is used throughout the entire office building, professional equipment is used for class A + and higher office kitchens. In 2019, the company sent for recycling more than 90% of waste and continues to work to increase this indicator. In particular, for the disposal of paper documents, contracts have been concluded with recycling companies, which in the future use waste as secondary raw materials. “Our sustainability efforts touch every element of the supply chain, from tobacco growers to the 150 million consumers who choose our products. That is why compliance with the principles of sustainable development is the corporate strategy of PMI, ”concluded Sevara Abdulaeva.
The company intends to continue to work on solving various social and economic problems in the regions of its presence and to contribute to sustainable development despite all the additional difficulties and challenges that the coronavirus pandemic poses for all of us.
Источник: https://m.forbes.kz/process/businessmen/ustoychivoe_razvitie_kak_bolshoy_biznes_pomogaet_malyim_kompaniyam/
Перевод статьи: Мусладин Айдана