GIVING BACK

TO THE COMMUNITY

SanLei Trout is currently the biggest trout farming operation in Africa, supplying a high quality product to a niche export and local market. This achievement would not be possible without the support of the local communities that are directly affected by its operations. 

For this reason, Sanlei Trout has developed a long-term community beneficiation strategy to manage and maintain the company’s relationship with the surrounding communities and has identified the following local communities as being directly affected by its operations: Khokhoba, Ha Theko, Ha Ramokoatsi, Ha Nkokana and Konstabole. SanLei has established two primary beneficiation projects, The Rosehip Company and the Khokhoba CaRe Fund, to help generate additional income streams for the local communities and to complement SanLei’s operations.

THE ROSEHIP COMPANY

Situated in Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, the The Rosehip Company was established in 2008. The current shareholders, Herman and Catherine Nieuwoudt identified a giant market demand for Rosa Canina. It was with great excitement that we realized Lesotho was of the very few places that do offer the Rosa Canina plant, and at the same time it was even more fulfilling to experience the extreme alleviation of the poverty in our community.

The Rosehip Company’s main vision and mission is to provide our rural community with a sustainable income, yet to ensure that is done in an environmentally responsible manner, to ensure contingency of product availability and ongoing support of the community. Lesotho is ranking 160 out of 187 countries, on the Human Development Index of the UNDP. Through the company’s direct trade with the rural communities we are able to offer a significant impact on the poverty experienced by the communities and this will always be our main driving force.

"The Rosehip Company plays a critical role in stimulating the struggling Lesotho economy, by directly employing up to 120 people, indirectly employing approximately 4,500 individuals and financially supporting in excess of 30,000 people annually," said Hendrik Jordaan, President and CEO of One Thousand & One Voices® (1K1V), a South African capital fund. "We are proud to invest in a company that supports rural communities across Lesotho, a region that stands to benefit from job creation."

CARE FUND

The extent and impacts (ecological and socio-economic) of catchment degradation in Lesotho are widely recognised. The Catchment Resilience Fund (CaRe Fund) concept was developed in response to this. The objective is to develop a financing mechanism to generate sustainable incentives to improve catchment management in the long-term by generating socio-economic benefits.

A pilot CaRe Fund Initiative was started in September 2017 as a partnership between the Khokhoba Community and SanLei in the Katse Dam catchment. SanLei is committed to contributing financially to the Khokhoba CaRe Fund, as a sustainable incentive for improved catchment management by the Community. The Khokhoba Community in turn commits to improving rangeland and wetland management and rehabilitating degraded areas. In addition, the Committee uses simple community based monitoring techniques to track the changes in the rangelands and wetlands, both in managed and non-managed areas. To guide this process, the Committee developed an annual workplan that defines their activities and targets, as well as submits quarterly reports to SanLei to reflect their financial, management and monitoring records.

The Khokhoba Community uses the money it raises through the CaRe Fund to implement projects that deliver benefits to the community as a whole as well as to finance individual households. These benefits create meaningful incentives for the community to support and contribute to the catchment management activities implemented through the Care Fund.

OTHER NOTABLE BENEFITS

  1. Sanlei Trout employs 87 people from the local community on a permanent basis and makes regular use of casual labourers too. This employment:
    • Uplifts families creating opportunities that were previously unattainable.
    • Has an economic knock-on effect for the local businesses in the employee’s communities.
    • Facilitates individual growth of the employees through skills transfer, training and promotion.
    • Guarantees skills retention within Lesotho.
  2. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)
    • 140 Million Loti has been invested in Sanlei to date – which represents a significant investment in the region. The company is contributing further by paying taxes, utilizing local service providers such as banks, auditors, security, insurance, telecommunications and company IT infrastructure services.
  3. Employment
    • The company currently employs 87 people mainly from the local communities (excluding casual labourers which are utilised frequently), spanning from general workers through to upper management
    • All are remunerated well above Lesotho minimum wage, receive health care, pension, death and disability cover as well as a funeral policy
  4. LHDA
    • The company has refurbished buildings that were left derelict after the construction of the dam wall – these are now leased from the LHDA providing an income stream on a monthly basis
    • Sanlei has a large fuel spend with both the LHDA and a local fuel business every month which has led to better facilities being installed which in turn benefits other users
    • A large monthly electricity spend on operations, paid for at Katse
  5. Construction
    • Local contractors have been involved in the construction, expansion and ongoing maintenance of the company’s operational facilities
  6. Transport
    • Local companies are used for transport of certain supplies and staff
    • Local companies used as clearing agents for imports and exports
  7. Retail
    • Procurement of refreshments, consumable and ongoing office supplies from local suppliers as far as possible
    • Increased consultants/staff = increased local spending