“We have invested approximately €8 million in this new facility and we are proud that it will give us extra supply reliability and flexibility to serve our customers worldwide,” said Vicente Navarro , BASF Senior Vice President for vegetable seeds.
Navarro also said, “This facility uses fully automated processes such as climate control, including humidity, heating and irrigation; It makes us pioneers in establishing the first sustainable high-tech seed production facility in Ethiopia.” he continued.
Established on an area of 15 hectares , two hectares of the facility have state-of-the-art greenhouses, while the rest is used for open field seed production facilities and infrastructure. The facility employs 70 fixed workers, most of whom are recruited and trained from the surrounding regions, and employs more than 100 seasonal workers throughout the year.
The facility meets BASF's health, safety and environmental standards and goes beyond Ethiopia's common sustainability requirements. In order to reduce the carbon footprint, mostly renewable energy sources are used in the facility, and the greenhouses are heated with solar panels. The facility, which also has its own waste water treatment systems, can recycle all the waste it produces on site.
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In addition, BASF is engaged in numerous social responsibility initiatives in the region. Ben Depraetere, General Manager of Nunhems Ethiopia PLC and Country Head of Vegetable Products of BASF ; “I am proud to see that we are actively involved in the reforestation and soil erosion control of the region, in addition to supplying seeds to Ethiopian small farmers,” he said.
In addition to these, Depraetere also; He also stated that they provide safe drinking water to the households living around their facilities, they are building new infrastructure for roads and they are raising funds for job projects for unemployed youth.