Sustainability

The Marginpar Group embraces the need for more sustainability. We want to go beyond compliance within country legislation and strive to meet international best practice standards in our industry. We actively pursue benefits to people - our work force and communities- and the environment.

Environmental sustainability

We are a proud member of the FSI initiative. FSI stands for Floriculture Sustainability Initiative. Together, we want to achieve a sustainable production of 100% for all plants and flowers. When it comes to environmental sustainability, there is still a lot of work to be done. At the moment, we look very closely at the ways pesticides and fertiliser are being used. We are changing over to the use of LED lights, which enables us to significantly reduce the amount of energy needed for production. We use solar panels where possible and we make sure that the farm teams are using the available water as smartly as possible. All of the precipitation is being harvested and stored in large lagoons. But we want to do more, want to achieve more. We look beyond what is strictly necessary and truly go for the extra mile when it comes to sustainability.

You have to accept social media cookies to view this video.

To change your cookie preference, go to the cookie page.

This is a video about flowers, about Kaizen, about empowering people and about our vision on how to work sustainably, both environmental and social. Farm Manager Peterson tells his story about working on one of Marginpar's flower farms.

This video is part one of our trilogy about Kaizen and our flower farms.
Watch the second video here and the third here.

Community benefits

We have a corporate social responsibility. Marginpar has already invested heavily in social matters in recent years. For example, we assist the villages in the vicinity of our farms. We’ve helped build several schools and additional classrooms. We support children going to high school. We support the physically handicapped. We partner with the government concerning security issues like burglary and carjacking. We provide soap and other essentials to day care centres. We try to improve the roads. And if our employees make specific requests, we help them. Practical support, that's what it's all about for us.

Labour benefits

We implemented a Japanese method of working: Kaizen. This management system allows staff participation and recommendations for improved production and farm operations. All the employees, from management to the people in the field, develop a great sense of ownership in their work. As a result, the Marginpar Group has a turnover of only 2% in its total staff, and 50% of positions are filled by women. There are issues with clean drinking water, so every employee is allowed to take five litres of clean water home each day. We have a nurse and a medical team on each farm. And each day, we provide a nutritious meal for all workers.

Resource efficiency

We are serious about environmental improvements. Through resource efficiency, cleaner production, promoting biodiversity and environmental remediation. Kaizen teams measure resource usages and seek ongoing efficiency improvement. For example, aqua check units enable the monitoring of water levels in the soil profile down to a depth of 60cm, this has resulted in up to 25% water saving. All farms generate their own compost out of flower trim. Storm and flood water are harvested in a containment dam for re-use. And to reduce the amount of pesticides used, we use ‘spot spraying’. Flower pickers are trained to recognise types of pests, each presented by a different colour flag. They plant the appropriate colour flag where the pest was seen, and the pesticide is applied in that area only.

Certifications

All our locations in Kenya are KFC Silver Label and GLOBALG.A.P. certified.

The KFC Silver certificate is based on environmental and socio-economic principles which ensure certified producers foster sustainable, responsible and safe production of cut flowers and ornamentals. The Standard covers good agricultural practice, human resource management and workers welfare, good governance, health & safety, environmental protection & conservation, and post-harvest management.

GLOBALG.A.P. is a trademark and a set of standards for good agricultural practices (G.A.P.) for safe, sustainable agriculture worldwide. The GLOBALG.A.P. Flowers & Ornamentals Standard covers: Propagation Material, Soil and Substrate Management, Fertiliser Use, Plant Protection Product, Harvesting and Post-Harvest Treatments.

In Ethiopia, our farm has MPS-ABC and MPS-SQ certification. The MPS-ABC certificate is a unique world standard and works as a benchmark in demonstrating to what extent our operations are environmentally friendly. There are three different levels, MPS-A, MPS-B and MPS-C. MPS-A certified is the most environmentally friendly. MPS-SQ stands for ‘Socially Qualified’ and focuses on Health & Safety, and good working conditions.

Our partner farms in Tanzania are all MPS certified, with MPS A+, MPS-SQ and MPS-GAP.
Tsanga Flora in Zimbabwe is also fully MPS certified. Our other partner farms in Zimbabwe are in the process of certification and following soon.

certificates per farm