The goal of sustainable crop and agriculture is to meet society's food demand without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. In the next 10 years Bayer aims to focus on education, bees and sustainable agriculture.
Companies get involved in education for a number of strategic reasons including building a positive reputation land goodwill among consumers, employees and other stakeholders; developing brand recognition, whether to increase consumer loyalty, boost sales, or establish the company as an industry leader; building a more educated workforce; raising consumer awareness about a particular issue; and fulfilling a company mission or mandate students, schools, and the general public can benefit from the experience and expertise that corporations bring to the table, particularly if the groups work together to ensure the right needs are being met on both ends.
External educational initiatives elevates Bayer’s triple bottom line; focusing on people. It also helps HR objectives by making it easier for our business to recruit and retain staff. Social responsibility generally leads to greater employee engagement, commitment, retention and identification. Educational involvement also builds a positive reputation and lands goodwill with customers, employees and stakeholders. More generally the company helps build a more educated workforce which is beneficial for society as a whole.
Agricultural education currently has 3 aspects which cover age groups 5-28:
In schools, the knowledge gap in the field of agriculture starts at an early age – especially since most kids grow up in urban areas and lack hands-on experience with farmers. And this gap can often not be filled by school curricular as the financial means are very limited toacquire fun and interactive learning modules for teachers.
Scientists worldwide are researching new technologies to help secure our food supplies. An exciting job that’s guaranteed to inspire, especially when you can try it out yourself. Bayer CropScience invites 14-19 year olds to do their own experiments. Work with crops like rapeseed and rice and experience how science can help solve major challenges.
By 2050 the world’s population will have grown from 7 to almost 10 billion people. Securing healthy food supplies for all remains a major challenge. In August 2015 over 100 young delegates from around the world will discuss ideas and solutions to this challenge in the second Youth Ag-Summit. Initiated by Bayer CropScience, the international conference in Australia is a platform for change, building on the success of the inaugural summit in Canada in 2013. “Feeding a hungry planet” 2015 is organized in partnership with the Future Farmers Network and connects a new generation of thought leaders in agriculture.
By 2050 the world’s population will have grown from 7 to almost 10 billion people. Securing healthy food supplies for all remains a major challenge. In August 2015 over 100 young delegates from around the world will discuss ideas and solutions to this challenge in the second Youth Ag-Summit. Initiated by Bayer CropScience, the international conference in Australia is a platform for change, building on the success of the inaugural summit in Canada in 2013. “Feeding a hungry planet” 2015 is organized in partnership with the Future Farmers Network and connects a new generation of thought leaders in agriculture.
We are also proud of our Jeff Schell Scholarship for Agriculture Science. The scholarship program was launched in May 2014 and supports students with pioneering ideas in agricultural science and plant biotechnology.
The growing competition for talent has necessitated such initiatives to become a preferred brand among students when applying for jobs and considering careers. In 2015, the Guardian, outlined the top 10 companies involved in educational corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, of which Bayer was not on the list.
We would like to further develop our Agricultural education initiative:
Bees perform approximately 80% of all pollination worldwide. Just one bee colony can pollinate 300 million plants per day. Whilst grains are typically pollinated by the wind, fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinated by bees. As a result bees are responsible for pollinating 9 tenths of all consumed crops.
It’s concerning therefore numbers of this critical insect are on the decline. Research has uncovered a host of factors which include pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. The two most prominent causes are thought to be pesticides and habitat loss; both of which are anthropogenic.
A Greenpeace scientific report identifies “seven priority bee-killer pesticides”. Among the bee harmful pesticides Bayer developed and marketed imidacloprid and clothianidin; 2 pesticides part of the Neonicotinoids class.
Safeguarding bee health is extremely important – for the farmer, for the consumer, and for innovative companies like Bayer. We have been directly involved in finding solutions to improve honey bee health for more than 25 years. We have a dedicated Bayer Bee Care Program that includes new tools to combat Varroa, research and development of “bee-friendly” crop protection products, and state-of-the-art product stewardship measures.
Further initiatives, but more general ones, are:
“Bayer ForwardFarming is a knowledge platform that demonstrates sustainable agriculture in practice. In partnership with independent farmers, the initiative creates opportunities for demonstration, dialogue and collaboration on farms around the world. Tailored solutions, proactive stewardship measures, and partnerships are implemented to show how modern agriculture can go hand in hand with environmental and social responsibility.”
With over 2 billion small farmers producing 70% of the world’s food we feel the ForwardFarming Program is particularly pertinent. By 2030 the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion. Not only will this population demand more food but dietary preferences shift to richer, more energy intensive foods. It is therefore vital all farming practices share best practice and remain as efficient as possible.
These farms benefit from partnerships with both the public and private sector to support their business, produce high-quality food, feed, and renewable raw materials, while at the same time preserving farmland and natural resources such as water, soil and biodiversity.
At Bayer, when it comes to weed management, it’s about finding a balance between feeding a growing global population on an ever-diminishing amount of farmland, whilst managing the 30,000 species of weeds that threaten the quality and volume of farmer’s yields.
Our current Integrated Weed Management (IWM) Programme seeks to tackle in three key ways:
In order to build upon the IWM programme, we would like to partner with Wageningen University & Research (WUR). WUR is widely recognised as the world's top agricultural research institution, most notably for its work in The Netherlands. Climate controlled farms near the border of The Netherlands are yielding as much lettuce as ten outdoor acres and have cut the need for chemicals by 97%. We believe a partnership with WUR aligns well with our mission statement and would hugely improve our agricultural farming techniques in a sustainable and effective manner.
They have embraced innovation and managed to virtually eliminate their use of chemical pesticides and reduced antibiotic usage. They have used technological advances to collate data and monitor all aspects of the agricultural process including soil, water and fertilisation. They are doing far more with less resources, and this is not contained to large corporations but ingrained into family farming. They are utilising the environment i.e. in bacterial symbiosis and do not support GMO (genetically modified organisms). They are using their knowledge to influence agriculture globally and support a number of programmes tackling sustainability in a number of countries. I.e. the rubber trade in Kazakhstan. Collaborating with this cutting-edge Institution
To form partnership with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) by 2020 and to have formed a strategic 5 year plan with them to take effect by 2022.
At Bayer, we are proud of the work we have carried out worldwide. We aim to contribute to increased agricultural productivity in regions such as Africa and Asia and intend to expand our presence there.
We also engage locally in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to help increase the income of smallholder farmers through sustainable agriculture. Activities include expanding local value chains and training measures. This contributes to improving the living situation of the local population and enhancing the availability of staple foods, fruits and vegetables in the project countries. In such PPPs, we cooperate with numerous partners including local governments, farmers’ associations and cooperatives, nongovernmental organizations and agricultural input industries. We are currently participating in PPPs associated with the value chains for rice and potatoes in Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
We recognise that our transition into Africa has been slow due to the change in environment and scale of projects. We would like to continue our work in Eastern Africa by providing educational resources. We would like to begin this by partnering with ZARI (Zambia Agricultural and Research Institute) by rolling out our first pilot in Zambia this year. We have chosen this centre as we can contribute a number of resources and they have an appetite for education but are limited by their knowledge and equipment. Sending research groups out to educate and collaborate will be a great way to integrate with these communities.
To have formed a partnership with ZARI by 2020 and rolled out our first pilot in Zambia by the end of 2022.
