We are helping
clients to increase the
sustainability oftheir
business
Albert Boogaard:
WORKING TOGETHER
Tip of the iceberg
afford to use fertilisers," Hans Bogaard says. "And what this
means is that farmers will move onto new land once the
old land is exhausted. And of course this affects the quantity
and quality of the raw materials Rl clients need. In this case,
everybody wins, from the local farmers to big companies like
Yara."
Although RF and RD are already working with Rl clients all
over the world, everyone agrees that they have so far only
scratched the surface of the potential business they could
be doing and the value they could be adding for Rl clients.
Anke van Kempen: "We are already working with some of
the world's biggest F&A players, like Mars, Cargill and ECOM,
and l'rn sure ifwe look at the supply chain of other Rabobank
clients we can quickly identify any number of opportunities
for cooperation with RD, RF or both. Between RF and RD
we cover so many countries and all the major commodities,
from cocoa to palm oil and coffee to cotton. And we are
being increasingly recognised by clients and non-clients for
the unique combination of banking expertise and our CSR
knowledge at every level of the F&A sector, from smallholders
and cooperatives to major agri players," she adds.
Because this is about business, Albert Boogaard says, RF
may not have to make a profit as a foundation, but it is not
working like a typical charity organisation. It looks at its clients
from a banking perspective to ensure the long term viability
of the projects. If RF makes donations to cooperatives, it has
to know that those donations will no longer be necessary two
or three years down the road, because the cooperative will be
able to generate its own cashflow. "And once that is true, they
can be integrated into the normal banking sector, for instance
with RD's banking partners. What RD and RF are doing in a
sense is helping to create a sustainable F&A sector for the
future," says Hans Bogaard
Rabobank Foundation was founded in 1973 and is a cor
nerstone of Rabobank's CSR activities. It supports 150 projects
annually, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The Foundation
offers grants and loans, technical assistance, trade finance, mi-
crofinance lending and guarantees for loans from other banks.
Rabo Development was set up in 2005 with the aim of
developing banks in developing countries through taking
minority stakes. RD currently has minority stakes in 6 banks in
6 countries (China, Paraguay, Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda
and Tanzania). Via her daughter Rabo International Advisory
Services (RIAS), Rabo Development offers Consulting services
and management support to banks in the fields of rural banking,
cooperative development and agricultural chain development.
CSR Rabobank International is responsible for coordination
and implementation of the CSR ambition and objectives of
Rabobank International and Rabobank Group. Rl wants to
actively contribute to the sustainability mission of Rabobank
Group, internally and externally, by offering financial products
and services to our customers and promote sustainable business
operations with our (prospective) clients. The Global CSR team
advises, coordinates and facilitates the business in contributing
to these CSR ambitions, amongst others by signaling and
connecting CSR initiatives within Rabobank and Rl clients.
For more information on the projects and initiatives of Rabobank
Foundation and Rabo Development, Rl CSR and Rabo Agri Fund
please contact:
CSR Rabobank International: Anke van Kempen
(Anke.van.Kempen@rabobank.com)
Rabo Development/ RIAS: Hans Bogaard
(j.j.bogaard@rn.rabobank.nl)
Rabobank Foundation: Albert Boogaard
(a.boogaard@rn.rabobank.nl)
Rabo Agri Fund: Ellen Bogers (Ellen.Bogers@rabobank.com)
I issue 20 i THE WORD
