Increasing local sourcing in Africa

In Africa, India and Latin America, our Farming Better Futures programme is generating inclusive growth by encouraging the local sourcing of agricultural raw materials from smallholder and commercial farmers. Depending on local needs, the programme also extends to water management initiatives and HIV/Aids testing and treatment for farmers.

We currently work with 32,499 smallholder farmers – about 4,000 more than last year due to the inclusion of our work with Zimbabwean farmers for the first time.

Our local sourcing programmes also support direct farming jobs. For example, in Africa research by Professor Ethan Kapstein of INSEAD, and other experts, indicates that SABMiller's commitment to increasing the local sourcing of raw materials to 50% over the next two years will raise the number of direct farming jobs supported by our operations from about 100,000 today to 150,000.

In Zambia, the drive for inclusive growth has involved working with local brokers and commercial farmers to develop a local barley industry. Three years ago we had to import all the barley needed in our Zambian operations. In 2012, Zambian Breweries plc worked with 21 local commercial farmers. As a result, over 4,000 rural workers now have a regular income for themselves and their families.

We are working with a number of partners in order to reach our target. For example, in Mozambique we have joined forces with DADTCO (Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company) to create a new market for cassava farmers, while in South Sudan we are partnering with Farm Africa, also to develop a local sourcing programme to grow cassava.