Ethiopia Cuttings receives Gold award for social standards and environmental performance

The Syngenta Flowers cuttings production location Ethiopia Cuttings is awarded in a gold level for social standards and environmental performance in the sector. The site is running business that meets the standards of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association.

The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) is a non-profit organization for production and export of flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs and cuttings. The association has its own voluntary Code of Practice to stimulate continuous professional and technical development in the sector. These levels go from Bronze to the highest rank Gold.

Ethiopia Cuttings received a gold award, which assesses among other things the participation in the sector’s activities, contribution in capacity building for the sector, engagement with the local community and commitment to develop a quality management system. It confirms as well that the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects are in accordance with the regulations in Ethiopia.

Priority on Health, Safety and Environment
“Based on this, we as Syngenta Flowers take responsibility”, says Site Manager Yigremachew Worku. “For instance, our site has more than 700 employees mainly working in harvesting. For all of us, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is priority in our business. All harvesting groups have assigned an HSE representative who gets the employees involved on HSE matters.”

He adds another development to this: "This year, we start investing in the construction of a scientific wetland, which filters heavy metals and hazardous chemicals before discharging. This wetland shows how responsible we are to keep the environment safe.”

Corporate Social Responsibility
In terms of social responsibility, Ethiopia Cuttings assures that employees, business partners are safe and the team contributes to innovations in the local community. Yigremachew: “We do work and invest on environmental protection and are highly involved on CSR projects. Examples are the construction of schools, we help to provide potable water and invest on electricity supply for the community around our site.”

Winner!
“We have clear principles that form the basis of our corporate and social activities”, says Yigremachew, who is very proud of gaining this Gold certification. “The focus of these activities is expressed in our motto: ASHENAFI, which means winner!”