World Monitor Magazine WM_Energy_ 2019_web | Page 42

Social responsibility
Chilik Farmers project
Beneficiaries of the
Project:
Amount invested: Small-scale farmers living in Yenbekshikazh district of Almaty region
(approximately 2,000 farmers)
Number of employees
engaged in the Project: Direct involvement in the Project: 2 employees, however all PMK factory
employees (600 people) have an opportunity to buy farmers vegetables
during regular fairs, which we organize at the factory as well as organizing
trips to the agribusiness centre in Chilik village.
More than USD 1,200,000 (since 2011)
Philip Morris Kazakhstan started a Rural Development Program
in 2011. The program aims to improve the well-being of small-
scale farming communities through introducing effective farm
management techniques and innovative cash crop growing
practices. An agribusiness center was opened in 2013 for farmers
and the community to be a place for every farmer to ask for
advice and get help. It is well-equipped with a demonstration
field, training room, computer class and mini laboratory to do soil
fertility testing and get advice on organic crops, safe fertilizers,
rotations and other issues.
Trainings: Since 2013, the agribusiness centre has offered nearly
60 training sessions for more than 1,500 farmers, organized
together with experts from the University of Florida, University
of Wisconsin, the Kazakh National Agrarian University and
DAMU Entrepreneurship Development Foundation. A direct
sales mechanism (exclusion of intermediaries in supply chain)
to Arzan supermarket was implemented in 2015. In 2018, an
agreement was signed with METRO supermarket chain, which
allowed farmers to expand the geography of vegetable sales to
other regions of Kazakhstan. These mechanisms help to increase
profitability of farmers as well as provide an opportunity for
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Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Semey, Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk
citizens to buy fresh and local vegetables.
Cooperation. In August 2017, the most active participants of the
project created and officially registered a cooperative called ‘Chilik
farmers’ (26 members). They receive relevant knowledge at the
agribusiness centre on how to manage, organize logistics, keep
financial records, etc. working in a cooperative. This mechanism
helps to secure project sustainability in the long run – cooperative
members are now running their own businesses, have regular
meetings, sign contracts with supermarkets, decide on logistic
options and develop future plans.
The project received numerous awards from the Ministry of
Religious and Civil Society Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
the Akimat of Almaty Region, the European Business Association of
Kazakhstan, the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan. In
2018 the project received a prestigious international award – The
International CSR Excellence Awards in the ‘Social and Economic
Development’ nomination. The prize was awarded by The Green
Organization, a non-profit organization established in 1994.
www.facebook.com/chilikfarmers