Innovation

As a company, Syngenta has implemented many innovative solutions into the farming industry. The innovation that has been most effective is “The Good Growth Plan.” During our interview, Paul Hoekstra, an employee at Syngenta, told us about one of their projects within "Good Growth Plan": "Operation Pollinator”, which began in 2004. This company's commitment focuses on working with farmers and land owners to improve biodiversity, achieved by the use of pollinator-friendly mixes. Paul also mentioned that they have worked with university professors in order to ensure the product is pollinator friendly. This innovation is used to improve the lifetime and stability of crops during operating seasons.

The "Good Growth Plan" emerged as a response to the many farmers and land owners needing assistance. Syngenta developed products to maximize agricultural sustainability through healthy and sufficient crops. The "Good Growth Plan" aims to solve the biggest problems facing the agricultural world, feeding the growing population and sustaining the crops being grown. Syngenta took the initiative to talk to farmers and learn what products were needed to protect their crops. The "Good Growth Plan" also focuses on the internal activity in the company, looking to protect every worker, and helping to maintain safety in all aspects of the operation. This stems from the respect every employee of Syngenta has for each other and for the farmers they serve.

Syngenta is working towards an ultimate goal. In the interview, Clare stated, “Instead of being a company that just says we do good things for the environment, we are a company that put[s] commitments behind that and measur[es] ourselves towards those commitments.” In addition to sustaining growth, they have made it their mission to protect farm lands and green space in the environment. “We are walking the talk”, Clare says. They continue to support all commitments made by Syngenta, introducing innovative solutions, while training new farmers.

Inspiration

Syngenta is dedicated to achieving a number of goals that vary from enhancing crop quality to ensuring safe environments for workers to operate in. Most of the company's goals revolve around improving and sustaining the state of agriculture across the globe. However, with a rising population and more regions pushing for industrial economies, these goals will be difficult to attain. That's why Syngenta encourages all of its employees to share any ideas or suggestions that promote their core values.

In our visit at Syngenta's Guelph location, we met a handful of employees. They all displayed the same genuine passion when discussing their job and equal excitement when talking about their impact on the world. Paul, when talking about the purpose behind the "Good Growth Plan," said; "We really need to change the discussion on what sustainability looks like. What is sustainability? There's a number of people on either end of the discussion. We got to find a way to feed 9 billion people on this planet in a very short period of time. We got to find a way to do it together." On a more personal level, he remarked, " I grew up on a small farm in eastern Ontario. I have two small kids. I love working for a company that is helping farmers produce the food that we eat in a safe and sustainable way."

Paul's attitude toward sustainability is a wholesome embodiment of everything the "Good Growth Plan" sets out to achieve. All the employees at Syngenta believe that their contributions to the company are making the world a better place. This is why the Good Growth Plan is so successful and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Overall impact

Over the years, Syngenta has provided numerous innovative solutions that have had an impact not only the Guelph community but around the world. "Giving back to Agriculture" in particular has been an important commitment in the city of Guelph. With the declining agricultural population in Canada, Syngenta looks to create agricultural sustainability as well as share the importance of farming. Another commitment that has seen growth over recent years is "Operation Pollinator," which originated in the United Kingdom and has expanded to more than 13 countries. This commitment continues to grow and focuses on developing further research regarding the importance of pollination in agriculture and nature. The "Good Growth Plan" focuses on making a profit while also making the effort to take care of soil and improve productivity, allowing the business to grow globally.

A major focus for Syngenta is improving the lives of others and improving the environment. With an increasing world population, we face the issue of not having enough food to feed. We're also beginning to grapple with the impact humans have on Earth. Syngenta notices the struggle of feeding an increasing populated planet, which has caused them to focus on increasing the knowledge of agriculture and researching ways of improvement.

What Syngenta strives for is actually committing to their initiatives by improving the millions of hectacres of biodiversity and training farmers to safely use their products. Paul Hoekstra stated, "These are all numbers that are being monitored and evaluated by a third party. So PriceWaterhouse Coopers evaluates everything we do, to make sure these are true numbers and people feel comfortable with them." This represents their commitment to accuracy, which cultivates trust with farmers. We're currently using resources on our planet 50% faster than it can take. The "Good Growth Plan" aims by 2020 to help sustain our resources by making crops more efficient, rescuing farmland, and many more initiatives. This commitment has made a substantial difference globally as it has helped rescue more than 4.3 million hectares of farmland since 2014.

Business benefit

As a business, Syngenta aims to give back to agriculture through highly innovative and advanced crop solutions. With the help of expert agronomic advice and technology, the company has been able to support farmers in producing the healthiest, high quality crops. With such high success in their efforts to maximize sustainable agriculture, the company continues to offer their business solutions through highly sought-after products. These include seeds, seed treatments, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. As of 2016, Syngenta has $9.6 billion in crop protection sales, and continues to offer these products to farmers worldwide. Sales through innovative solutions are continuing to grow, benefiting consumers and Syngenta. With a rapidly increasing population, farmers continue to support the purchase of these products. Alongside the mission to achieve the company goals, the financial growth through sales is used to further research, provide products, and support the operations within Syngenta.

Social and environmental benefit

The societal impact that Syngenta has as a corporation cannot be ignored. According to Clare, “every employee gets a volunteer day, so that they can volunteer in their community.” This allows for employees to take some time to volunteer, without feeling that it interferes with their work or personal life. In addition to this, “every employee [has a $150 benefit] they can use towards any not-for-profit or charitable contribution,” and the company will match any donation that an employee has directly deducted from their payroll. These are donations that are made in addition to the corporation pledging 1% of their pre-tax profits to charity. Within Guelph, Clare explained that Syngenta tries to support “one arts, one health, and one local community event”. For example, the firm supports the Rotary Club of Guelph, MRI machine funding at the hospital, local foodbanks with mass volunteer support, and the United Way. They also attend the Guelph River Run Festival. By the nature of Syngenta's business, the firm's primary operations have a significant environmental impact as described in this report.

Interview

Clare Wooding, Internal Communications Specialist