30th September 2019
Bonsucro, with three other organisations – La Isla Network (LIN), San Antonio Mill, and the National Committee of Sugarcane Producers of Nicaragua (CNPA) – is a founding partner of the Adelante Initiative, a platform used to evaluate manual labour work practices and improve on them. Its objective is to reduce the harmful effects of heat stress and Chronic Kidney Disease of Undetermined Causes (CKDu) among the sugarcane workforce by standardising work practices.
Over the last few months Adelante Initiative has been working to acquire substantial financial support and now, two years after its inception, it has attracted major funding – nearly $2 million USD – to support its work from now until 2021.
The funding comes from the DEG and the BMZ, two German institutions dedicated to sustainable development, which come together via their Developpp programme.
The financial support from the DEG and the BMZ will help the initiative to continue working to ensure that occupational health, and addressing CKDu specifically, is a priority and can be validated and adapted for other affected sugarcane producing regions, as well as other industries whose workforce is at risk from heat stress, CKDu, and other related occupational illnesses.
San Antonio Mill and LIN are also continuing to invest their own resources into the project and additional support is provided by the other project partners. The CNPA will be essential in ensuring the project grows both within Nicaragua and the region. San Antonio Mill, LIN and the CNPA are all Bonsucro members, and it is through Bonsucro that it is hoped that Adelante’s findings can be disseminated internationally. LIN’s Ilana Weiss is part of the working group for the Bonsucro Production Standard Revision, which began earlier this year, providing one potential pathway for the initiative’s learnings to be spread globally.
Find out more in the Adelante Initiative podcast
Find out more in a podcast series on the Adelante Initiative that is hosted by sustainable business, human rights and environment commentator Ian Welsh, who will explore different aspects of the Initiative’s work, dedicated to creating safe and productive work practices in the sugarcane industry and beyond. The opening episode is now available here.
