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42 JANUARY 2015
I
n 2010 a major tea buyer of Rwandan teas, Betty’s and Taylors of
Harrogate, committed to buying purely Rainforest Alliance certified teas
by 2015.
Gisovu was an essential component of their brand, Yorkshire Gold. For all
their efforts the parastatal under OCIR THE was reluctant to go ahead, as
they would have had to bear any expenses involved in certifications.The only
way they could convince OCIR THE to get compliant was to assist in their
certifications. MOUs were signed and work began.
The estimates, mostly inflated, were made and, surprisingly, sanctioned.
Grandiose ideas of bathrooms in the plantations/expensive water treatment
plants etc were asked for. The first hurdle was child labour and in a survey done,
130 children were found working.Waste water treatment was paid for by Taylors
through a DIFID grant. Down stretched a pipe taking the wash water 500 metres
into a settling tank. In stepped Borelli Tea Holdings in February 2011 and had
to take over all the commitments of OCIR THE.
In a re-survey of the child labour allegedly employed, we detected only 50
children – the balance turned out to be child-faced adults who had claimed
to be children expecting some gratis, and 30 others who had reached the age
of 18 in the interim.
“
Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes
life meaningful.
”
~ Joshua J. Marine
Of the children detected in the re-survey, most were
sent to school while 10 were trained as seamstresses at
the local parish. All of them were sponsored by Gisovu.
Thereafter began the main work, adhering to all
principles:
1.
Environment and social management systems
2.
Ecosystem conservation
3.
Wildlife protection
4.
Water conservation
5.
Fair treatment and good working conditions for
employees
6.
Occupational health and safety
7.
Community relations
8.
Integrated crop management
9.
Soil management and conservation
10. Integrated waste management
Each principle was taken up and worked upon –
training workers in a language which Surender
(Manager at Gisovu) had still to pick up! Most of the
staff spoke French, a few knew English and all the
workers communicated in Kenyarwanda. Sometimes
with actions, some by demonstrations, some through
translation, the message was passed.
Records kept, trainings conducted, and we thought we
were ready.
The bigger challenge was the small holders who had to
be coerced into learning the standards and adhering to
them. Audits of 3412 farmer sites spread over many a
mountain were conducted and training imparted.
The initial surveillance audit did throw up a few
nonconformities. Our consumption and storage of
chemicals is one litre at a time and usage is only in the
nursery. Interestingly, we were forced into making a
PPE storage room (for one set), a chemical storage
room as well as a bathroom for the user! The stifling
standards… Anyway, the nonconformities were
corrected and we got certified within six months of
starting. No mean achievement in an alien country with
language issues, including with the supporting farmers.
Credit was given where credit was due – the Manager
Gisovu along with his support team.
Gisovu scored 94% in the last audit.
ISO 22000:
Rainforest Alliance done, ISO 22000 work started.
A manual had to be prepared. Intellectual Copyright
was cited for not getting a base document from
colleagues. A lot of time was spent on drafting one
incorporating all Company standards relative to
Rwanda and omitting the extraneous material we had
in the FSMS manual in India.
We reduced the CCPs after discussion; only the
essential ones were kept.
The factory was in stages of change – with renovations
and new machines being installed – getting all
parameters up to standard was a near impossibility.
However, the team at Gisovu pulled up its sleeves and
got down to work.
Hygiene stations made, workers’ changing room made,
trainings (though similar to Rainforest Alliance) were
conducted again, and validations done.
All documentation updated, and in came the preliminary
pre-audit auditor. A few suggestions and corrections later,
we were ready.The audit was done in February 2014 and
Gisovu got its ISO 22000 certificate in April 2014.
~ H. S. Grewal
Gisovu, Rwanda
CERTIFICATIONS IN
GISOVU, RWANDA
Rainforest Alliance Certification
Rainwater Tank