‘Govi Suwaya’ – ‘Samaposha’ extends local farmer CSR to healthcare
Plenty Foods (Pvt.) Ltd (PFL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (CBL), the manufacturer of ‘Samaposha’ cereal brand for children and adults, recently launched its latest corporate social responsibility ( CSR) initiative ‘Govi Suwaya’ (ensuring the health of farmer communities) with the opening of a water purifying unit in Getalawa, Galenbindunuwewa.
The company has duly identified the critical need for a water purifying unit in the area as many farmers are increasingly being affected by kidney disease. The final outcome of this problem has ripple effects which are far more serious than even the affected farmers realise. When the farmers become affected by illness, production declines sharply and eventually sourcing quality raw materials becomes a challenge. As a result, the prices of the end product inevitably go up.
PFL CEO Shammi Karunaratne explaining t heir focus on farmer development said, “We believe protecting our farmer community is as equally important as protecting our customers. We provide all these facilities and hygiene solutions to the farmers expecting no return. Our main objective is to treat them as part of the PFL family and to be there for then when they are in need. This is only the start of Govi Suwaya programme. We expect to conduct a series of medical camps, health screenings as well as medical consultation for our farmers in due course.”
Jayasundra, a PFL farmer from Galenbidunuweva, said, “Many farmers in our community have been affected by kidney disease during the past months. Samaposha is the only company that provided us with what we needed the most, a water purifying unit.”
PFL is t he only company t hat provides an above market rate, guaranteed price for the farmer’s crop. The company’s objective is to build a long-term relationship with the farmers, thereby creating sustainable business practices.
‘Govi Suwaya’ is the latest pillar of the holistic CSR programme of PFL, ‘Govi Pawula’. ‘Govi Pawula’ is a unique i nitiative t o develop farmer communities which at present have over 8000 registered farmers. Under this programme, the company conducts a series of workshops for the farmer community to share knowledge relating to farming activities (Govi Danuma knowledge sharing sessions); constructs and repairs religious shrines (Govi Arana spiritual development projects), provides disaster response services (Govi Sarana) and also conducts social entertainment events (Govi Sathuta).
This highly nutritious product Samaposha provides children with necessary nutrients to enhance their growth and health t hrough the goodness of corn, rice, soya and green gram and is 100 percent locally manufactured using natural ingredients. Plenty Foods (Pvt.) Ltd is integrated to 8,000 farmers who grow these crops to manufacture ‘Samaposha’.