A Conversation with Elisa Aragon, Co-founder and CEO, Nelixia (Guatemala); Gero Diekmann, Managing Director, EcoSo Dynamics (Namibia; Khilendra Gurung, Manager, Himalayan Bio Trade (Nepal); Shamiso Mungwashu, Fairtrade Support Network (Zimbabwe); Nihal Singh, Managing Director, Pavitramenthe Fair Organic Pvt. Ltd., (India).

To watch the first of these webinars, go here.

In Part 2, SHP Director Ann Armbrecht spoke with producers from India, Guatemala, Namibia, Nepal, and Zimbabwe. It isn’t often that producers from different regions of the world can speak with each other about their experiences and we are thrilled to be joined by Elisa Aragon, Gero Diekmann, Khilendra Gurung, Shamiso Mungwashu, and Nihal Singh.

Each of these individuals and companies is leading the way in implementing Fair for Life, FairWild, UEBT, organic, and regenerative organic certifications in their networks for producers. We discuss the value these certifications bring to their companies and communities and the challenges they encounter in meeting these requirements. Most importantly, we talk about innovative solutions and potential areas of collaboration among companies working to address social and environmental issues in the communities from which they source.

Speakers:

Elisa Aragon Co-founder and CEO of NELIXIA, a company based in Latin American that produces such as Essential Oils, Extracts and Spices. These ingredients are used in the perfumery, flavors, aromatherapy, teas & spices industries, among others. Since 2009 she has been working to create a new standard in sustainable and ethical sourcing. Her company writes and implements its own certified sustainable methodology, and places social and environmental aspects at the heart of all operations. Elisa completed her studies in chemistry at the perfume school, ISIPCA in Versailles. After a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and innovation at ESCP in Paris, she founded NELIXIA.

Gero Diekmann is the managing Director of EcoSo Dynamics cc. Gero was born in Namibia. He grew up on a Namibian cattle farm, where he discovered his passion for nature. When he took over his family farm he studied Holistic Management, a system that focusses on sustainable decision making, and consideres Ecology, the Economy and at Social aspect simultaneously. The name EcoSo Dynamics expresses the relationship between humans and their environment. With his wife Dorothea, they have built a company that specializes on the supply chain management and export of Devil’s Claw (Harpargophytum Procumbens/Zeyheri).

Khilendra Gurung, the Managing Director of Himalayan Biotrade in Nepal. He has 23 years of experience in enterprise set up, technology transfer, quality management, and marketing of natural products. He has worked as a consultant for the Nepal government and various national and international agencies and corporates throughout Nepal focusing on the assessment of non-timber forest products, medicinal and aromatic plants, botanical ingredients, and certifications (forest certification, FairWild certification, Fair for Life certification and organic certification). He has a MS in Botany from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Shamiso Mungwashu is the Executive Director of Fairtrade Support Network Zimbabwe (FSNZ) that seeks to empower small holder farmers and collectors to access markets that offer fair prices and that share the same values of the sustainable use of natural resources. She works with communities and companies and also advocates with government authorities to implement the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) legislation in Zimbabwe. She is currently working with companies involved in accessing marula, resurrection bush, and mongongo nuts on these issues around the sustainable use of natural resources.

Nihal Singh is a young Agripreneur and Managing Director of Pavitramenthe Fair Organic. In 2015, with the vision of healing “the earth socially, economically and environmentally,” he began working with 300 smallholder farmers to produce organic products using regenerative organic farming practices. He started his own business, Creation Biotech, in Uttar Pradesh, India to export organic products internationally. In 2018 he founded Pavitramenthe Fair Organic with the same vision. Currently 3800 smallholder farmers work with him and practice regenerative organic farming in India.