Enacy Mapakame-Business Reporter

CONGLOMERATE, Meikles Limited, says it is upscaling its climate sustainability efforts as they have a direct bearing on the group’s operations, especially the agriculture segment.

This comes as climate change is now presenting a major risk for businesses hence the need for proactive mitigation initiatives.

The world is under threat from the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture and its value chains, mining sector, tourism, infrastructure and across entire economic activities, creating scope for businesses to come up with climate sustainability as ways to mitigate its impact.

In 2019, Zimbabwe suffered massive infrastructure damages when tropical cyclone Idai hit parts of Manicaland, which caused production and supply chain disruptions coupled with loss of human lives.

For the hospitality group, climate sustainability is a priority which has seen the group embark on various projects on energy, water and waste management to minimise the negative impacts on the environment as a result of their business value chain activities. The group operates companies in agriculture, retail and hospitality, which are also exposed to climate change effects.

“It is the group’s culture to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner,” said chairman John Moxon in the group’s annual report.

“The group subscribes to various environmental standards, policies and procedures that minimise negative impact on the environment.

“Energy is vital in all our business value chains. The group’s policy is to ensure conservation in resource use. In that regard, the Group has energy saving taskforce representatives across all branches of our subsidiaries. Their responsibility includes raising awareness on energy use and saving,” he said.

In line with this, its agriculture segment – Tanganda – completed the installation of a 1,8MW solar hybrid plant at Ratelshoek Estate in Chipinge, which forms part of a wider 7,5MW solar programme across the company’s estates.

This comes as Tanganda’s estates had suffered from frequent power cuts in recent years that interrupted tea production.

The retail division, TM Supermarkets implemented measures to manage energy consumption by setting monthly targets and taking corrective action on any anomalies and the business introduced gas stoves while installation of inverters in every branch has been planned for the future. According to the group, electricity consumption increased due to an improvement in power supply for irrigation at Tanganda Tea Estate during the financial year 2021, which led to a decrease in diesel consumption, where production in the factories was powered by generators mostly in 2020.

“The group is currently working on developing a systematic recording process to accurately measure its electricity consumption consistently across the business units,” said Mr Moxon.

The group also has measures in place on water and waste management. Significant consumption of water is for irrigating the estates, cleaning, cooling and other hygiene purposes.

In light of this, Tanganda generates wastewater from tea, coffee and macadamia production processes as the business also manages wastewater impacts through in-house wastewater treatment plants at all tea factories.

Said Mr Moxon: “We also carry out laboratory tests to determine the quality of the water at entry and exit points in the estate. We have made commitments that all wastewater must be dammed and no untreated effluent should find its way into the natural water bodies.”

During the financial year 2021, total water consumption increased by 44 percent as a result of improved power supply leading to minimal interruptions on irrigation of Tanganda Estates.

Meikles also has a strong position on waste reduction. Its Victoria Falls Hotel has adopted a green initiative that promotes the recycling of food waste for organic gardens and this has been key in keeping the environment clean while reducing the amount of waste sent to the landfill.

This is in addition to making use of reusable glass bottles which has significantly reduced the amount of plastic waste we generate.

The business also recognises the significance of biodiversity and takes reasonable care to manage its impacts on flora and fauna. Key areas in which we manage biodiversity impacts include controlled usage of herbicides and pesticides in plantations, prohibition of hunting, controlled fishing in the lakes, protection of natural and indigenous forests.