Social commitment

Community Relations

The company, guided by its Host Community Policy, continues with several community development projects as a practical demonstration of the spirit of partnership with and goodwill towards the people in the host communities.

Such proposed projects will include the IAEGO Scholarship Scheme under which students from host communities will each receive annual scholarship grants. Also, water pumps and boreholes are to be actively maintained in villages. Other projects will include assistance to primary and secondary schools, maintenance of roads, provision of electricity in host communities and the offer of employment to indigenes of host communities.Annually IAEGO provides several university and polytechnic students with industrial training and research placements as well as giving opportunities under the National Youth Service Corps programme.

Empowering smallholder farmers & inclusive agriculture

Building resilience of rural people is now more important than ever to avoid a food crisis and to safeguard rural livelihoods. IAEGO is more than a food company. We are committed to support an inclusive agriculture to secure consistent income for small scale farmers, while also protecting ecosystems. Essentially through adopting sustainable agricultural practices; providing access to high-yield & resistant planting materials; and promoting market access through out-growers schemes etc.

Outgrowers' Scheme

In order to spread its economic impact in areas of operation, IAEGO initiated an outgrowers’ scheme, which will be co-financed by partners/investors. Under this scheme, farmers are provided with high yielding planting materials, fertilizer, technical supervision and ready market for their commodities. At the end of 2023, 120 farmers were involved in the schemes with 365 hectares planted.

Employee Involvement and Staff Training

IAEGO maintains regular communication and consultation with the branch union leaders to brief employees on matters affecting them. On-the-job training facilities are provided for all categories of employees with a view to improving their performance, job satisfaction and prospects. External training programs are also undertaken as appropriate.

Mechanism for Land Dispute Resolution

Land dispute are inevitable especially with population increase and demand for more resources vis-à-vis human needs. Addressing this could be sometimes complicated due to prevailing traditional, cultural practices and the number of parties/stakeholders involved.

However, as a corporate organization, IAEGO has developed strategies and a framework to ensure that land disputes are prevented. In a situation where this is unavoidable, the following mechanism is in place to address and resolve such disputes:

Respect for each other’s concerns and interests: using this process, mutual respect is safeguarded in order that each party’s concerns and interest on the land are respectfully
Stakeholders identification: this helps to identify and explore tools for analysis and for better understanding by interested parties, of their respective needs and concerns in relation to the land issue(s).
Engagement and dialogue: through dialogue, relevant stakeholders deliberate on the identified issue(s) and develop innovative approach(es) to resolving the conﬂict and building a win-win position between the parties involved.
Mediation: in the event that both parties could not resolve the issues through dialogue and engagement, a third party may be sought as a mediator to assist and guide the parties towards resolution. The mediator does not decide the outcome but helps the parties understand and focus on the important issues needed to reach a win-win mutually beneficial resolution.

The beauty of this approach is that the outcome usually results in mutual respect, understanding, and goodwill.

Transparency leads to transformation

We are strong believers in continuous improvement and we hold a mirror to ourselves to always do better. IAEGO will publish sustainability reports as will be due. These will be easy to read and transparent while communicating as much as possible quantified results.

We understand that sustainability should be intentional and integrated in all what we do. Through the way our business is designed, the decisions and policies we make every day, so our business can be a means to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and ultimately building a better world for all.