Langkap, Malaysia - Started 1992
Community and Stewardship Programs Foster Sustainable Agriculture Partnership
Scope: A DuPont Crop Protection community service and stewardship program that fosters sustainable agriculture with 1,000 rice farmers. The stewardship component shares best agriculture practices to help farmers increase farm productivity, become trained in safe use handling and extend the lifecycle of sulfonylurea herbicides through alternating spray programs to manage weed resistance. The community service component has focused on two local elementary schools with a total enrollment of 1,800.
Impact: The average rice yield has increased about 50 percent since program inception 10 years ago, while the highest yield increased 100 percent during this same period. For the last five years, 400 farmers each year have received safe use training and free or subsidized personal protective equipment. The libraries in two elementary schools were renovated and repaired, and students are encouraged to excel in their studies with annual cash awards to top performers.
Laguna, Philippines - Started March 2004
Life, Livelihood and Corn
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International community service project in collaboration with the Corn Husk Association of the Philippines (CHAP) that allows Filipino corn farmers and their families to earn additional income by training them to create crafts and handiwork utilizing a natural material abundant in their community – the corn husk. More than 15,000 corn farmers have been trained.
Impact: A Filipino corn farmer earns an average of US$535 per hectare each growing season and plants 1.5 hectares of corn twice a year. Prior to this project, corn farmers had no alternative source of income. A family producing cornhusk handicrafts five days every week can double its annual income and improve its quality of life.
Philippines - Started January 2004
National Stewardship Program
Scope: A DuPont Crop Protection community service initiative in collaboration with the Philippine Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) to provide safe use training for crop protection products. DuPont Philippines has been providing safe use training to farmers for 20 years, interacting with 36,000 farmers annually on average -- a small percentage of all Filipino farmers. The initiative sought a way to provide safe use information and training more broadly, to contribute to farmer and consumer safety and protection of the environment. The FPA accepted the DuPont model of implementation policies and guidelines on product stewardship, which calls for a mandatory safe use lecture at the start of farmer gatherings, providing personal protective equipment to users at cost or free-of-charge, and providing poison centers and hospitals with product information, regular updates and other guidance. The FPA is in the process of finalizing industry-wide implementation in cooperation with the chemical industry associations.
Impact: The dissemination of safety and health information along with personal protective equipment will result in a step change of understanding in farming communities and will contribute to health improvement among farmers. Container disposal practices will also improve with safe use training.
Chiang Rai, Thailand - Started March 2005
Northern Thailand Agri-based Diversification
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International community development project in partnership with the Doi Tung Foundation to diversify the sources of agricultural income in the communities of the Golden Triangle (Northern Thailand). This project builds upon an existing project that was established by the Doi Tung Foundation to shift dependence from opium production and prostitution to cottage industries and agriculture. Specifically, the project will enhance maize production and grain value-adding production, share technical agronomic expertise, initiate an education program for farmers and their children at the 17 schools in the Doi Tung area of influence, and identify other partners specializing in adding value to grain production in areas such as dairy and silage.
Impact: The shift away from opium production and prostitution is expected to gain momentum with improving food security and income diversification.
Thailand - Started 2003
Nutrition Program for Thai Primary Schools
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International community service project to supplement the lunch program available in Thai primary schools. The project sought a sustainable way to provide lunches for all the children in participating schools by asking parents to participate by planting a field with maize seed donated by Pioneer. Proceeds from each harvest support the school feeding program that has grown from two schools in 2003 to 40 schools today.
Impact: The community is working together to benefit the school, and the experience is building community pride and goodwill as well as contributing to the daily nutritional needs of 7,700 children.
Rajasthan, India - Started March 2004
Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Project
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International community development project to enhance community understanding of animal feeding and husbandry and to improve the livelihoods in selected Rajasthan villages. This project began with a water buffalo vaccination program in 30 villages and is being expanded to a more holistic approach to include animal nutrition and husbandry. While milk is in high demand, production levels are low and planned animal feeding is almost non-existent. Most students leaving school choose to work in the cities instead of in agriculture. This project will include animal health demonstration projects in selected villages and will work with schools to add agriculture, including animal husbandry, to the curriculum.
Impact: Better animal nutrition and husbandry will result in better food security, increased family income and improved quality of life. The education program will strengthen rural incomes and provide alternatives to urbanization for students leaving school.
Nairobi, Kenya and Arusha and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Started January 2005
Unlocking the Green Maize Market Potential in East Africa
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International and TechnoServe economic development project to enhance the green maize marketing value chain for small-scale peri-urban communities in Africa. TechnoServe is a nonprofit organization focused on business solutions for rural poverty. Maize is a staple food in both Kenya and Tanzania with more than 90 percent of farmers allocating some portion of their land to its production. While dry maize is vital to food security, a number of farmers harvest some maize early, or green. Although the green maize market has been opportunistic, the green maize price point is two-to-three times higher than dry maize. Project elements include supply chain assessment and enhancement, alternative markets, creation of entrepreneurs, and improved logistics. The project’s implementation will be a test market operating model near Nairobi, Kenya. Additional partners will be identified specializing in rural education, micro-finance and improved irrigation.
Impact: Production of higher value crops will increase as small-scale farmers become organized and gain access to urban markets through improved supply channels. Annual on-farm incomes will increase allowing farmers to improve their quality of life.
Chura Community, near Nairobi, Kenya - Started January 2004
Chura Community: Tissue Culture Banana Project
Scope: A Pioneer Hi-Bred International economic development project for a small-scale farming community near Nairobi to help increase sustainable farmer incomes, alleviate hunger and poverty and develop agri-based businesses to improve the economy of the community and surrounding areas. Banana is an important food security crop in Kenya, but production has been in decline over the last 10 years primarily because of crop diseases and pest infestations as well as environmental degradation. Project elements include education and training of farmers to use clean, disease and insect-free planting materials such as tissue culture propagation techniques. The project also emphasizes self-sufficiency in food production, identification and development of market delivery channels and establishment of small farm-based businesses.
Impact: With the first harvest in August 2005, 1,500 farming families that have faced dire hunger and have struggled to alleviate poverty will see most of their food security and income needs resolved. During the three-year project, a total of 6,000 farming families in the Chura Community will have made further progress toward sustainable livelihoods. The development of agri-based businesses and improved access to markets will further strengthen the economy of the community and surrounding areas.
Argentina – 30 communities in the agricultural regions - Started 2000
DuPont Agrosolutions, a Committed Neighbor
Scope: A DuPont Crop Protection community development project to improve the quality of education for the next generation of farmers in Argentina. In 2000, 30 DuPont Agrosolutions retail stores initiated this project in their communities to provide training to students and teachers on sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation. The project is also designed to encourage increased community involvement and volunteerism among DuPont employees in local schools, and to strengthen the commitment of the community, growers and DuPont employees to education.
Impact: Thousands of students and teachers in communities where DuPont has retail stores have received training on sustainable agriculture and are sharing what they’ve learned with their families and the broader community. DuPont employee involvement with local community schools has increased, as has employee awareness of the support schools need from their communities. Work is underway to engage other companies in a collaborative effort to continuously improve the quality of education in the communities in which we have operations.
Brazilian agricultural communities – Started 2003
Field Solidaire: Linking Social Interactions with Business Needs and Opportunities
Scope: A DuPont Crop Protection community service project was one of the components of a new model implemented in 2003, linking DuPont corporate social responsibility initiatives, collaboration with nonprofit organizations in support of community service programs and training sessions for farmers on crop protection safety. The purpose of the new model was to create a safety culture and awareness among farmers through educational materials and training sessions, and to connect farmers using DuPont Crop Protection products with community service programs and initiatives in the communities where DuPont has a business presence to increase the base of community support and volunteerism.
Impact: Increased safe use awareness of DuPont Crop Protection products and effective use of personal protective equipment by Brazilian farmers. Implementation of this new model increased the total number of farmers trained year-over-year by 120 percent to 47,630 in 2003. Additionally, farmers and distributors donated more than 68 tons of food at the training sessions for distribution by the nonprofit organization Association of the Parents & Friends of Exceptional Children (APAE). Other approaches to the community service component have been added, including the collection and donation of blankets to the homeless and the donation of a much-needed ambulance to a community in Alagoas State. Small economic development projects have also been piloted.
04/05
