Poligrow Facts 2008 - 2010
We would like to share some of Poligrow Colombia Ltda.’s achievements during these two years of labors in the Municipality of Mapiripán. In addition to having successfully sown 2,509 Ha. of African Palm, we present our concrete actions:
Work
- We generated a total of 133 formal jobs, among direct jobs and jobs through cooperatives.
- Indirect workers, including cooperatives and contractors, earned a total income of approximately COP 1,740,000,000.
- The employees directly hired by the company who perform their duties on the plantation earned a total income of COP 1,929,258,057.
- We supplied work to 37 women through cooperatives, out of which 18 are heads of household.
- We invested COP 150,000,000 to help the administrative management of the cooperatives Coomapipalma and Coomapiripán.
Education
- 85 adults are completing their elementary, junior high or high school studies thanks to Poligrow’s work with Institución Educativa Jorge Eliecer Gaitán for them to take advantage of government benefits and subsidies.
- Through its training and education program, and thanks to its alliance with SENA, Poligrow gave technical education in oil palm cultivation and harvesting to 25 students in 2009 and to 15 apprentices in 2010.
- 9 students graduated from SENA in different agronomical specialties; they did their internships in Poligrow and they are now direct company employees.
- Through SENA, 24 persons were trained in Solid Waste Management and 38 in Systems.
- 40 Internado children were trained in Solid Waste Management.
The Environment
- We recycled 4.3 metric tons of bags used in the preliminary nursery plus 1 metric ton of different materials such as tin, aluminum, scrap metal, cardboard, and plastic from our general activities.
- We collected 338 farming chemical containers, which were delivered to Campolimpio (an entity authorized to handle hazardous waste).
- We planted a total of 44,000 plantlets of timber species on 40 Ha. of savanna lands in the context of the Project “Forestales”, in which we have 2.5 Km. of natural plant barriers that are 30 m. wide. They separate the virgin mirity palm tracts of land and the riverside woodlands from the line of planted crops.
- We sponsored the creation of Ecoclub “Ecomapiri” by donating COP 12,000,000; this is a group for youths, which carries out environmental projects.
- “Línea Base Ambiental de la Hacienda Macondo” (“Hacienda Macondo Environmental Base Line”) identified 219 species of vascular plants, 189 species of vertebrates, 53 species of insects, and 39 families of aquatic macroinvertebrates.
- We contributed to the care of 43 species of flora and fauna, included in the list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and in the endangered species categories in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and fauna (CITES).
- At Hacienda Macondo we inventoried a good percentage of the fauna species present in the Colombian Orinoquía area, comprising 39% of mammal species, 25% of reptile species, and 22% of amphibian species.
- We preserved 293 Ha. of native woodlands in Hacienda Macondo.
- We reforested 2.5 Ha. of woodlands with native species.
- We contributed to the conservation and care of 30 species of epiphyte plants native to the Colombian Orinoquía area.
- We gathered a biological collection of 60 vascular plants, 38 aquatic macroinvertebrates, and 40 insects.
- We devoted 269 Ha. of Hacienda Macondo to conserving the biodiversity.
Fundación Poligrow Projects
- Near COP 185,500,000 were allotted for social management.
- Two “Deporte por la paz y Fútbol por la paz” (“Sports for Peace and Soccer forPeace”) sports events were held, in which 180 inhabitants of the Municipality of Mapiripán participated, among them, members of the Police Force and the Army Corps, the Town Hall, Native Indian Groups, and Poligrow workers.
- The Commissary Project helped to lower the cost of family staple food products by 12%.
- We supported 96 youths in the Internado, providing technical assessment for the cultivation of green bean, cucumber, red bean, and coriander and for the care of 144 laying hens that produced 2,513 eggs.
- The process for the first 16 home vegetable gardens was started, on 6 m2 lots, which will provide sustenance and revenues for the families in the municipality.
- We signed a collaboration agreement in the amount of COP 180,000,000 with the Mapirán electrical power company - ESPMM, in the context of energy self-supply using vegetable oil.
- Thanks to our research on oleaginous plants such as castor oil plant (Palma Christi) and jatropha (pine nut), we determined the technological sowing package that will provide oil for the energy self-supply project using vegetable oil.
- Our energy self-supply project using vegetable oil participated in the contest Innovación de Energía IDEAS (Energy Innovation IDEAS) sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Korean Government GTZ, and GVEP International. It was one of the 25 winners and won a prize in capital for project implementation.
Human Health and Safety
Different voluntary health brigades were conducted, aimed at improving the physical and psychological wellbeing of the employees of Poligrow and the employees of associated cooperatives as well as their families:
- Poligrow and Saludcoop Promotion and Prevention, 120 beneficiaries
- General Medicine, 70 beneficiaries
- Mental Health, 80 beneficiaries
- Oral Health, 94 beneficiaries
