Seeding and growing human potential
Seeding and growing human potential is at the heart of sustainability at Sappi— beginning with our own people and extending to the communities where we operate. We plant seeds of change and opportunity that can enhance people’s everyday lives. It’s all part of how we create shared value that benefits our business, our customers’ businesses and the communities we proudly call home
Supporting emerging farmers
Given the limited work opportunities for the rural youth and women in particular, we are leveraging opportunities to provide emerging farmers with access to land for produce. Our forestry managers, community services officers and ESD department specialists are working together with partners (contractors, government departments and agencies) providing training, as well as administrative and operational support and assistance.
For us, this makes sound business sense and is a good example of shared value: Supporting agricultural projects not only empowers others, it also enables us to investigate our own expansion into supplementary agri-business opportunities, by using these pilot projects as a testing ground for the market.
One such example is the peanut farming venture started by a group of women on our land. In 2018, Ms Ntombiyenkosi Mbuyazi and four other women started planting peanuts on a newly planted Sappi compartment close to her community at Shikishela in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal.
Since then, Sappi has made more land available and sponsored seeds. Currently, there are 20 participants in the Palm Ridge project area. Our ESD unit are helping participants to register the business as a co-operative. The main objective is to gain access to funding and market opportunities
Win-win
For participants: Free access to land and the potential to earn income. For Sappi: Participants routinely weed while they plant. This saves weeding costs and time. What’s more, the roots of the peanut plants help to enrich the soil, as they have nitrogen fixing properties.
The beekeeping project
The beekeeping project provides a source of income and promotes entrepreneurship in local communities.
Six years ago, Sappi began sponsoring skills development training and providing flatpacks (material for making bee hives) to communities to make bee hives and produce honey from their own homesteads.
As honey production is seasonal, participants were also taught the basics of vegetable and poultry production to supplement their diets and generate an income.
Group savings
The project participants are part of a savings group which lends money at interest to group members. There are 12 adult Monthly savings session groups in Sokhulu alone.
Khulisa
Sappi Khulisa started out in 1983 with only three small growers and has grown to over 3,600 growers. Sappi has purchased 4.5million tons of timber from these growers, earning them R2.7billion to date.
The vision of the Sappi Khulisa programme is to develop the growers into professional forestry value chain participants, to meet the growing demand for wood fibre. Sappi provides sponsored high quality seedlings, technical advice, a guaranteed future income and interest-free loans. Sappi buys the harvested timber at market-related prices.
Long-serving Khulisa grower, Doris Mdladla from Sokhulu in Northern KZN has been part of the programme since the early 90s and exemplifies how hard work, determination and looking past adversities can bring success in the forestry industry.
“My late husband encouraged me to join him when we started working with Khulisa. Through their assistance, I have been able to live off my combined 15-hectare plots and send my children to university.
“I am proud to say we now have a teacher and an agriculture professional in our home. We have built a 12-room house worth over R500, 000 and bought ourselves a family car through our Sappi Khulisa profits,” says Doris.
