Business can learn from farmers - Simon Susman, Woolworths

Back at the NBI - phew! Venue number 4 in Durban for today...

Managing Climate Risk in the Zambezi River Basin Cyprian Chitundu CEO, Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO):

"Even though Zambia is experiencing the effects of climate change in terms of fish species vanishing and the great Basin drying up, the country is still exploring the building of 2-3 new coal-fired power stations. We have been negotiating with our partners, ESKOM, to thrash out alternative grids, such as geothermal and solar solutions, but with our tariffs very low and setup costs so high, we have no promise in the near future."

"Building resilience and sustainability in supply chains," says Simon Susman, Chairman of Woolworths , who developed the brand's sustainability journey, re-engineering its supply chain in the process, "means organisational transform - in management, where Woolworths thoroughly applied SA's BEE Codes, purchasing and the company structure."

Susman says this goes way beyond traditional CSI, where Woolworths has - for many years - been involved in schools, passing fresh foods worth $40 million a year on to charities and so on. In a company that emits 300000 tons of carbon into the atmosp-here every year, Woolworths had to overhaul its carbon and water footprint to become the shade of green Susman envisioned.

"The four pillars of organisational transform, CSI, environment and governance always had passionate proponents within the business, but only really gained traction once employed as one, interrelated strategy," says Susman.

Small steps, such as saving $4000 a month by switching off the hot water boiler at their Head Office ("because you don't need hot water to wash your hands at work"), helped in getting employees realise the ways and means of applying greener principles in small ways in their own lives.

Woolworths also became more involved in the food supply chain. When farmers supplying food experienced the negative effects of land degradation and bad soil quality due to overworking of the land and wind erosion, they embarked on a journey back to the traditional methods of natural composting.

"Instead of adding expensive oil-based nutrients into the ground, the natural method has replenished the land's carbon sink, which is now rich in nematodes, and demands less herbicides and water."

Mr Susman also commented on the importance of stewards hip of land. "What we have found, is that farms that have been in the family for generations are operated with a more sustainable long-term vision. Managers in business - who today generally adopt a 3-4 year 'temporary manager' outlook, would do well to learn from this."

Is environmental best-practice good for the business?

Susman nods a definite YES! "Woolworths has gained market share, increased profits and share value on the back of its sustainability drive," he says. "The success factor? Igniting the energy by giving ample voice to the staff and suppliers, who have contributed excellent ideas to the sustainability strategy."

With the move to wholesome, natural food being driven - in Europe at least - by 100 million anonymous women in the European Union, Woolworths is striding ahead to engender this social movement among South African consumers.