Support towards Industrialization and the Productive sectors in the SADC region (SIPS)
Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) is working with the Joint Action Support towards Industrialization and the Productive Sectors in the SADC region (SIPS) project to support sustainable and environmental compliance for the leather value chain in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Joint Action SIPS is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and managed by the SADC Secretariat.
SLF will offer training workshops aimed at increasing capacity-building on sustainability and best practices, followed by pilot audits that will be carried out in chosen tanneries located in the SADC region, initially in Tanzania and Namibia. These will help SLF comprehend the local procedures and capacities. Based on the results obtained, training plans will be created and executed before conducting re-audits by the end of 2023.
The initial project will run between May and November this year and a key component of the work is to ensure that local representatives are trained and given the required tools to continue to drive forward improvements in the leather value chain for the future.
SLF plans to incorporate as many connections with other internationally recognised sources of good support as possible, such as the work of UNIDO and their valuable Leather Panel.
Project Partners
Each of the tanneries involved will receive their own SLF Transparency Dashboard where progress can be recorded. We are delighted to list the first four companies that have signed up for the project and we look forward to working with them:
Ace Leather Africa, Tanzania
HTP Ltd, Tanzania
Meatco, Namibia
- Nakara Tannery, Namibia
Step 1: Workshops
Delivery of a two-day workshops that covers the fundamentals of sustainability within the leather industry, followed by practical sessions on environmental, social and governance good practice. The workshops will take place in Tanzania and Namibia.
For more information contact: info@sustainableleatherfoundation.com
Step 2: Preparatory Audits
Each of the tanneries that is signed up to participate in the project, will benefit from having a preparatory audit that is designed to assess the current standard across the ESG requirements of SLF. This first audit will result in a tailored improvement programme that will include practical advice and training to develop processes, policies and procedures.
Step 3: Development and Improvement
Using the personal improvement plan, and with the support of the SLF team, the tanneries will have a 3 month period to put into place the recommendations from the preparatory audit. The tanneries will all have full access to the SLF Toolbox inlcuding the Technical Library, Templates, Pathway Papers and Standards & Benchmarks to assist them.
Step 4: Formal Audit and Certification
Following the end of the training / improvement period, each tannery will undergo a further audit to achieve certification in as many sections as possible across the SLF Transparency Dashboard for environmental, social and governance aspects
Step 5: Action Plan for Continued Development
As part of the formal audit reporting, facilities will receive an improvement plan to enable them to continue developing. This plan may include more long term development goals that could require investment or additonal time for implementation.
Local resource will be trained to continue to support the facilities and all will have continued SLF support until the end of their 2-year audit period.