OUR MEANINGFUL WORK
Lionheart Farms won the Sustainability Company of the Year with a dramatic entry from the Agricultural Sector in South Palawan among the 10 other shortlisted Commercial industries in the Circle of Excellence awards; these are an impressive group of nominees making gigantic contributions to the nation’s development. Lionheart is the grand winner in the Sustainability Company of the Year category among more than 400 nominations received from the nation’s most important organizations and leaders.
Recognized by USAID as a future model for Sustainable Development and transformation of tropical agriculture; measured and validated by the UN’s FAO using the Sustainable Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) with an outstanding sustainability performance, achieved the best ratings in all SAFA themes. Lionheart sets its commitment in maintaining the focus of the business to be one of the most Sustainable companies in the Philippines having net-zero emissions designed to integrate Sustainability on all strategic goals and initiatives today and in the future. Few companies involved in agriculture have reached the level of compliance and international standards of certification like Lionheart and excel in all aspects of sustainability: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being (FAO, 2013).
The United Nations has enumerated a list of goals that guide organizations, businesses and individuals built on the principle that no one gets left behind. We use these goals as a guide to enrich and enhance the community and the environment we live in. We have chosen to measure ourselves against four of these goals which we find most crucial and that we address for the benefit of every one. Known as SDG#1 No Poverty, SDG#2 Zero Hunger, SDG#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG#13 Climate Action.
Environment
Lionheart’s farming practices follow the Korean Natural Farming protocol with high yielding coconut palm varieties, using no chemicals, with a relentless focus on soil improvement. The result speaks for itself: Lionheart Farms will harvest enough nutrients to feed 400 people per hectare, against for example sugar cane (65), oil palm (100) or at the extreme other end of the spectrum rain fed rice (8). The water use per kilo sugar is 200 liters, versus sugar cane’s 3,000 liters.
Part of Lionheart Farms model supports the conservation of the ecosystem by preserving forest areas, new tree planting to strengthen the transition areas and species considered threatened, endangered, vulnerable or critically endangered.
Through this advocacy we capture and store 350kg CO2 per palm per year, net of harvest and original vegetation. That is four times more than a humid, tropical rainforest. When our farm is fully developed, it will capture and store more than all the emissions caused by the Province of Palawan’s power sector (80MW).
Economy
Employment is the most effective path to improving livelihood and value adding is an absolute requirement to achieve sustainable economic results at all levels as it applies to people individually, families, community and businesses - our holistic approach ensures sustainable micro and macro economic development.
In only a few years we have become one of the largest employers in the Province of Palawan and opportunities for entrepreneurship and businesses have risen significantly in the Municipality of Rizal. Such as suppliers for our bio organic fertilizer production, with a list of more than 15 different raw materials and quantity of demand rising month by month.
Entrepreneurs in the community adapt to our sustainable organic practices and have started expanding their businesses to meet our needs. Opportunities in construction, catering, vehicle maintenance and many more have also arisen creating an economic boost to Rizal. We always strive to do all our business locally.
Society
The Indigenous People of Palawan has a long history and their culture must be preserved, they are our partners and our hosts. To embrace the tribal culture we have implemented their traditional elder structure for dialogue, problem resolution and decision making into our organization and way of working. Ensuring their ways of life are not lost but embraced in our partnership of operating the farm.
The Municipality of Rizal, Palawan, had nearly the highest national poverty incidence at 65% in 2015 when Lionheart Farms started.
As the farm is fully developed, Lionheart Farms will have helped to sharply reduce this with virtually the entire host community being offered jobs with liveable wages, plus social services, health insurance, and other benefits.