Mining Magazine July 2019 | Page 153

of dollars on CSR schemes but too often it ’ s wasted stresses White . “ Building hospitals and schools is a great thing to do … But if there isn ’ t a network in the community and a tax system to pay for teachers and doctors , every year they have to keep financing the project . This ends up being a cash drain while they ’ re being vilified for not creating other jobs .” He argues that projects need to offer real jobs that generate tax to be self-sustaining . “ We believe you can take your CSR budget , and make it into a cash generator . Not a cost ,” he pledges . “ That ’ s the advantage of working with ImpactAgri .”
Within each country it operates , ImpactAgri identifies strong off-take partners for specific crops … For example , in Uganda , the company is allied with one of the biggest traders of macadamia nuts . “ The ideal model is to start with a farm as a commercial entity that supports the business in terms of paying for equipment , off-take and processing ,” says White . “ But as we expand , we ’ d rather work with the farmers on their own land , under contract to actually deliver services
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