At Godrej Agrovet, our comprehensive CSR policy outlines the programmes we undertake, to create a positive impact on our stakeholders. Our CSR committee reviews, monitors and provides strategic inputs on our sustainability efforts.

We realise that the effect of climate change on the agriculture sector is adverse. The impact is more severe on small and marginal farmers. It is important for us to address these challenges as we look to deepen our link with agricultural communities across India.

Our integrated CSR programme focuses on women empowerment, economic growth, water management and mitigating farmers' vulnerability to climate change impact. We work with landless and marginal farmers, especially women, in arid and semi-arid regions.

Over the years, we have aligned our programmes with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, social development programmes of the government, and the needs of the local communities.

One of our key focus areas is to ensure social and economic empowerment of women in the communities we operate in. We aim to address the most common issues women face on information gaps, access to markets and financial linkages. We work with them to reduce their vulnerability to climate change. We offer them training programmes on on-farm and off-farm activities and life skills.

We work with landless and marginal farmers to enhance their livelihood. We train them on non-farm income generation activities and smart agriculture. We collaborate with non-profit organisations to design and run programmes on animal husbandry, and sustainable and resilient farming. We also support farmers on life skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. As of December 2017, we have helped over 38,000 landless and marginal farmers enhance their earning potential. A significant number of these farmers are women.

Around the world, climate change is creating a severe impact on weather patterns. These are either leading to intense precipitation or causing droughts. In places of acute water stress, we work to restore the ecological balance of the region and mitigate the risk of climate change. We partner with the government, and local communities on these projects.

Our integrated watershed management project covers over 6,600 hectares of drought-prone regions of Magadi, Karnataka and Barwani, Madhya Pradesh. We work with small and marginal farmers in recharging groundwater levels. We help them adopt sustainable farming practices, non-farm activities, and large scale afforestation drives.

We support initiatives that help provide access to clean water, sanitation and education. We also support awareness programmes promoting water conservation.

To understand our stakeholders better and put in place high impact programmes, we carried out a detailed community needs assessment at our priority plant locations. Based on the findings, we run initiatives to address the immediate needs around education, water, sanitation and skill building. As of December 2017, we have invested in 15 villages in and around our plants.

As part of our initiative on nutritional food security, we work with 4,500 marginalised families of tribal communities in Nimar, Madhya Pradesh. Food and nutritional security are key development challenges in these areas. We spread awareness about the importance of nutritious food and ways to grow the same. In the long term, we aim to reduce malnutrition in the region.

To address the shortfall of energy supply in rural India, we aim to create renewable energy ecosystems. In collaboration with non-profit organisations, we provide decentralised, off-grid renewable energy systems. We install these mini and micro-grids in energy-dark villages in Madhya Pradesh, for domestic use and irrigation. We also train local youth and build awareness on the potential of renewable energy.

We are committed to making environmental sustainability a key part of our manufacturing processes. As we expand our operations and acquire new businesses, we include them in our sustainability portfolio. While our specific energy, water and waste consumption levels have increased since our baseline year of 2011, we continue to work relentlessly on our green initiatives. We have been investing in green technology and reducing our energy needs, waste generation and water usage. We also continue to increase our renewable energy portfolio.

To mitigate GHG emissions and increase our renewable energy consumption, we use biomass for thermal energy. We plan to buy green power to reduce our dependency on grid electricity. Over 80% of the energy we use at our plants is from renewable sources.

Energy saving technologies like VFDs on pellet and hammer mills help us reduce our specific energy consumption. Recycling and reusing water reduces our specific water consumption. We have also diverted some of our ash waste from landfill, by utilising it to manufacture bricks.

Progress of our manufacturing plants till December 2017, compared to 2011 baseline:

Energy consumption from renewable sources	81%
Reduction in specific greenhouse gas emissions	12%
Reduction in specific energy consumption	-42%
Reduction in specific water consumption	-18%
Reduction in specific waste to landfill	-13%

We are among the largest oil palm developers in India. We work directly with farmers for the entire lifecycle of their crop. Over the years, we have developed more than 61,700 hectares of plantations across India. We run five oil palm mills. At our plants, the waste from fruit bunches is used as boiler fuel. The electricity generated from the cogeneration boiler meets the power requirement of the plants. The plants also use biogas usage systems to recover waste biogas and use it as fuel in boilers. In all, over 99% of the energy we use at our Oil Palm plants is from renewable sources. This has also resulted in reducing our specific greenhouse gas emissions by 81%.