Meanwhile, on the far end of the green project rainbow...
From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog
by Richard Maltzman,
Dave Shirley
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Richard Maltzman
Dave Shirley
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Date
Our little company is called EarthPM. It's named that way so that it's clear that we are about the intersection of project management and sustainability, but also with the intended double-meaning that we are here for the project managers of our rock - the third rock from the sun - Earth.
So why the heck are you looking at a Mars bar?
Well, we wanted to familiarize you - or perhaps refamiliarize you - with the concept from our book called "A Rainbow of Green". The idea (although you need to read the book to fully understand) is that projects which are focused directly on sustainability - that is, those whose project product is a reduced impact on the environment or an improvement in CSR metrics, for example, are on the "green by definition" end of the spectrum, and that new Release 8.3.4.3.6b of your company's accounting software would be on the other end of this spectrum.
At a meeting of our local sustainability professionals tonight, the meeting, which took place at local non-profit consulting firm FSG, was kicked off by Special Projects Coordinator Mary Light, who gave us an example of one of their projects - one which involved the Mars Company.
To quote from FSG's web page:
"70% of the world’s cocoa supply originates in West Africa with Côte d’Ivoire as the world’s largest producer. Cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire is grown by more than 700,000 small holders who farm, on average, approximately 3 hectares each. Production volumes and quality have been constantly declining over the last decades due to a multitude of economic, social, and environmental challenges. The underlying problems include: fluctuating weather patterns, low incomes, weak rural infrastructure, lack of improved planting material, aging farms, loss of biodiversity leading to exposure to pests and diseases, deforestation, and declining soil fertility. Without urgent action to address these challenges, the cocoa sector faces the risk of collapse."
That is the challenge. To address it, the project put in place is described this way:
"The analysis revealed a high potential for shared value creation — Investing in a comprehensive sustainability program in Côte d’Ivoire will help ensure the long-term success of Mars’ chocolate business and at the same time improve economic, environmental, and social conditions in cocoa-growing communities. The goals of the “Vision for Change” program in Côte d’Ivoire thus address all three levels of sustainability including:
-
Economic: Improve Farmer Incomes. Helping farmers to make their farms more productive and to increase the quality of their crops will improve their income and allow them to better cover their family’s needs and reinvest into their farms.
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Environmental: Improve Environmental Management. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) will increase soil fertility, and more productive farms should reduce expansion of cocoa farming into protected forest areas.
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Social: Invigorate Rural Communities. Empowering local communities will lead to improved living standards in cocoa-growing communities.
Mars understood early on that the challenges within the Ivorian cocoa sector are too complex to be tackled by Mars alone. The “Vision for Change” initiative for Côte d’Ivoire outlines a multi-stakeholder Collective Impact approach, combining pre-competitive public goods investments with supply-chain investments. Mars has proactively engaged with other interested stakeholders and sector investors including the Ivorian government, national institutions, the World Bank, bilateral donors, commercial suppliers, certifiers, and NGOs. FSG has facilitated a partnership between Mars and the Ivorian government, national agricultural institutions, and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). In March 2010, Mars and the government of Côte d’Ivoire signed an MOU as the basis for future collaboration.
Most recently, FSG has been assisting with the implementation planning of the “Vision for Change” program including developing action plans, orchestrating and facilitating meetings and communication among existing and potential partners, and providing continued strategic advice to Mars as the catalyst of this Collective Impact initiative."
This is about as far to the "Green By Definition" side of the spectrum as you can be, and still be on Earth. And in fact, maybe it's not so coincidental that it's the Mars company that's doing it. But we jest - the idea is that more and more of these proejcts need to be launched, and even better, managed by project managers with an improved sense of, and understanding of sustainability issues.
We encourage you to read more about the efforts of Mars, by following this choclatey link....
And, of course, we encourage you to read more about this in our book and by following us on Twitter and EarthPM's own blog. Thanks!
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: April 03, 2013 12:14 AM |
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