Guatemala – AgroAmerica from Guatemala is celebrating after being named a finalist for the UK’s longest running and most prestigious awards programme, championing responsible business in the UK and abroad.
Now in their 20th year, the Awards champion the most inspiring businesses who are making a difference by taking action to build more inclusive workplaces, stronger communities and tackling our biggest environmental challenges.
AgroAmerica has been shortlisted as a finalist for The Unilever Global Development Award: Recognising businesses that can demonstrate positive impact against one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). AgroAmerica’s programme Living wage: the limits of social responsibility consists of bringing good jobs to the rural areas of Guatemala where the company operates, complemented with benefits that are greater than those required by the law. In this way AgroAmerica contributes to poverty reduction and benefits local development. The programme benefits 11,000 employees and around 55,000 people (family members) in rural areas of the Latin American country. Fairness is a core philosophy for the company, which has more than 20 internal policies ensuring responsible business across a range of areas.The company has also donated more than half a million bananas to areas where needs are greatest.
Fernando Bolaños, AgroAmerica CEO, said: “To promote inclusive and sustainable local growth, employment and good working conditions are needed. In order for the business to be sustainable in the rural areas where we operate, we must provide benefits to our employees first, then their families and communities. Since AgroAmerica was founded, people have always been the core of our business and that’s when we started developing and promoting the living wage concept. We learned to redefine our social investment and to be more assertive in how we can provide not only a good job to our workers but a good way to raise their families with better opportunities to improving their quality life being. We realize that a living wage benefits not only employees but business and society.”
AgroAmerica’s programme is aligned with the following SDGs:
1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere.
5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation.
8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities,and equal pay for work of equal value.
According to UN: “Poverty eradication is only possible through stable and well-paid jobs”.
Chief Executive of Business in the Community, Amanda Mackenzie, said: “We want all businesses to be a force for good in the community, and being shortlisted means that AgroAmerica can inspire many more companies to be part of the responsible business movement, so that together we can work for a fairer society and a more sustainable future.”
The winners of all ten categories, including the Responsible Business of the Year will be announced at the Responsible Business Gala Dinner at the Royal Albert Hall on 4 July, in front of 1,200 business leaders. The headline sponsors of the 2017 Responsible Business Awards are Experian, Unilever, UPS, Aviva, Barclays, Fujistu, UBS, Unipart Group.
For further information about AgroAmerica contact comunicacion@agroamerica.com, or visit our web page.
For more information about Business in the Community or the Responsible Business Awards contact alex.delaney@bitc.org.uk
For more information on the Awards visit www.bitc.org.uk/awards/responsible-business-awards and follow @BITC on Twitter #BITCawards.
About AgroAmerica
Since becoming the first Guatemalan company to conduct research into a living wage for its workers, back in 2011, AgroAmerica have led the field in socially responsible farming. The international agri-food business grows and delivers tropical fruits and vegetable oils, and promotes development orientated policies to tackle poverty and issues of gender equality.The family company has operations in Guatemala,Ecuador, Peru, Panama,United States and Europe.
For more information visit https://agroamerica.com/en
Business in the Community
Business in the Community is the Prince’s Responsible Business Network. Our members work together to tackle a wide range of issues that are essential to building a fairer society and a more sustainable future.
We engage thousands of businesses through our programmes driven by our core membership of over 800 organisations from small enterprises to global corporations.
The Responsible Business Awards
Business in the Community’s Responsible Business Awards brings to life how businesses are creating innovative and sustainable solutions to our most pressing challenges, inspiring thousands of others to make a lasting difference and adding value back to their own business.
Now in its 20th year, the awards, rigorously assessed by independent business peers, are widely acknowledged as one of the most respected endorsements of responsible business in the UK and abroad. Open to companies of any size, sector or scale, a wide range of businesses enter, demonstrating the breadth and depth of responsible business.
Each year, over 250 business peers assess the entries, endorsement planters are used by companies to profile their achievement, inspiring thousands of people to be a motivated part of the Prince’s Responsible Business Network
Source: AgroAmerica
