BASF

No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

Benefit sharing
The company indicates it has made contributions within the Access and Benefit sharing (ABS) framework towards global projects that directly benefit index countries. However, it dos not specify amounts or contributions.

The company provides limited insight into its position and activities related to genetic resources and intellectual property management. As it is important that seed companies contribute to genetic resources and intellectual property management that supports smallholder agriculture, the company could provide more insights into its activities for others to learn from.

No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the research and development measurement area.

Seed production activities in index region
The company does not have seed production locations in the region. It has the opportunity to introduce seed production locations in the region and engage with local seed companies and farmer organizations, thereby contributing to the transfer of advanced technologies and strengthening local expertise. Furthermore, the company should disclose how it ensures the respect of social and labour rights of workers in seed production in the region.

No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the marketing and sales measurement area.

No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the capacity building measurement area.

Carrot
Cucumber
Gourd
Green bean
Green pea
Lettuce
Melon
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for Western and Central Africa here.

Breeding programme for specific traits
The company does not have its own breeding programme in Eastern and Southern Africa. However, it does have breeding activities outside the region that are aimed at addressing the needs and demands of smallholder farmers in index countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. These include developing improved varieties with resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, longer shelf life and improved nutritional value.

Seed production activities in index region
BASF has seed production locations in South Africa and Ethiopia. The company involve local companies, farmer organisations, intermediaries and local farmers in its seed production activities. In Ethiopia, specifically, the company is building a network with different organisations.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
The company has NAL Authorised Quality Assurance laboratories and reliable quality management systems across all of its seed production. BASF also has access to local ISTA accredited labs in South Africa.

Extension services
The company offers extension services in Ethiopia and Tanzania. For example, in collaboration with USAID, BASF trained young Tanzanians to become certified spray service providers and equipped them with professional coveralls, farmer personal protection kits and knapsack sprayers. The training included information on common pests and diseases, proper selection of active ingredients, safe use and handling of pesticides, care and maintenance of spray equipment and business skills. The company reports reaching 500 smallholders in the region through this program for the period 2018-2020.

Stakeholder engagement
While the company undertakes stakeholder engagement activities with the South African National Seed Organization (SANSOR) and the Ethiopian Seed Association, it has an opportunity to disclose an overview of issues raised through these activities as well as how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders.

The company provides limited insight into its position and activities related to genetic resources and intellectual property management. As it is important that seed companies contribute to genetic resources and intellectual property management that supports smallholder agriculture, the company could provide more insights into its activities for others to learn from.

Local participation in breeding/variety development
The company does not provide evidence of how it uses feedback from local consumers, traders and smallholder farmers to inform its breeding programme. Furthermore, the company could consider giving specific attention to feedback from women farmers.

Engaging smallholder farmers in seed production
The company engages smallholder farmers in its seed production activities and indicates that about a third of seed production is carried out by smallholders in Ethiopia. The company discloses that it requires intermediates to offer contracts to smallholder farmers, where they outline or require its intermediates to outline sharing of profits and risks and arrangements on product prices favourable to smallholders. However, it does not provide any examples of these contracts.

Social and labour rights in seed production
BASF has standards in place for child labour, forced labour, health and safety and living wages and reports that it monitors compliance through contractual obligations, incentives, awareness programs and penalties. However, it does not provide sufficient evidence to show how these social standards are regularly monitored in the region. Furthermore, BASF does not disclose whether it ensures workers in its seed production activities are paid a living wage both when seed production is carried out by the company itself and through an intermediary.

Diverse portfolio
As the company has only a few varieties for the majority of crops in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, it could diversify its portfolio by offering more varieties per crop in the region.

Quality assurance and after-sales
BASF adheres to ISHI-Veg standards for seed health testing. However, it could increase disclosure on its protocols for monitoring its distribution network, ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf-life, preventing the distribution of counterfeit seeds and providing after sales support to smallholder farmers.

Programmes for women farmers and next-generation farmers
The company provides extension services in the region but can expand its programmes to target women and next-generation farmers.

Onion
Tomato
Watermelon

Carrot
Cucumber
Gourd
Green bean
Green pea
Lettuce
Melon
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for Eastern and Southern Africa here.

Plant breeding activities in index regions and developing improved varieties of global crops
The company has both its own breeding programme and collaborative breeding activities in India, and it develops hybrid varieties of 11 global vegetable crops suitable for smallholder farmers in the region.

Breeding programme for specific traits
The company’s breeding programme includes the development of traits that are particularly important for smallholder farmers, such as resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, longer shelf life and improved nutritional value.

Seed production activities in index region
BASF has seed production locations in Thailand and India and involves local companies, farmer organisations, intermediaries and local farmers in production.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
The company has an internal management system to ensure quality, covering all of its seed production in the region, and indicates that it has Naktuinbouw Authorized Laboratories (NAL) and reliable quality management systems across seed production. Production done with third parties is also tested internally against NAL standards and tested with external certifiers only if necessary.

Extension services
BASF provides training and demonstration services on the safe use of crop protection products across India and provides farmers with a set of personal protective equipment along with the training. In the Philippines, the company provides agronomic advice as well as recommendations on crop protection services to smallholders. Furthermore, in Thailand the company runs a “Safety First” project, where it increased the awareness of Thai smallholders towards safe and sustainable use of crop protection products and personal protective equipment.

Programmes for women farmers
The company states it has a dedicated programme targeted towards empowering women, in partnership with MAVIM, the State Women’s Development Corporation of Government of Maharashtra, where it carried out training for women smallholder farmers and their families. BASF trained 1,500 smallholder women farmers overall through this programme in the period 2018-2020.

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers
BASF has developed access to seeds objectives through a project in India that focuses on marketing and sales and capacity building for smallholder farmers. The company reports on measures of progress for the project, such as the number of farmers reached. However, the company could develop objectives for other aspects of ensuring access to seeds and extend its focus to other index countries in the region.

Stakeholder engagement
Although the company undertakes stakeholder engagement activities with Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) and the Federation of Seed Industry of India, it has an opportunity to disclose an overview of issues raised through these activities as well as how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders.

The company provides limited insight into its position and activities related to genetic resources and intellectual property management. As it is important that seed companies contribute to genetic resources and intellectual property management that supports smallholder agriculture, the company could provide more insights into its activities for others to learn from.

Benefit sharing
The company has made contributions within the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework towards global projects that directly benefit index countries but does not specify amounts or contributions.

Local participation in breeding/variety development
The company does not provide evidence of how it uses feedback from local consumers, traders and smallholder farmers to inform its breeding programme. Furthermore, the company could consider giving specific attention to feedback from women farmers.

Variety testing
The company only performs variety trials in one of the eight index countries where it is active. The company could consider extending its testing locations to other countries in the region where it is active, which would also strengthen the local seed sector.

Engaging smallholder farmers in seed production
BASF engages smallholder farmers in its seed production activities and indicates that smallholders carry out the majority of its seed production in India and a third of it in Thailand. The company discloses that it requires intermediaries to offer contracts to smallholder farmers, where they outline or require its intermediaries to outline sharing of profits and risks. However, it does not provide any examples of these contracts.

Social and labour rights in seed production
BASF has standards in place for child labour, forced labour, health and safety, and living wages. The company reports that it monitors compliance with these standards through contractual obligations, incentives, awareness programs and penalties, and has a dedicated team for monitoring and raising awareness of child labour in India. However, it does not provide sufficient evidence to show how these social standards are monitored in the region. Furthermore, the company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its intermediaries to do so.

Diverse portfolio
As the company has only a few varieties for the majority of crops in all of the index countries where it has sales in the region, it could diversify its portfolio by offering more varieties and more seed types per crop.

Quality assurance and after-sales
BASF adheres to ISHI-Veg standards for seed health testing. However, it could disclose its protocols for monitoring its distribution network, ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf life, preventing the distribution of counterfeit seeds and providing after-sales support.

Next-generation farmers
The company does not disclose evidence of programmes that are targeted towards building the capacity of next-generation farmers.

Information and communications technology (ICT)
The company reports having programmes that aim to advance the use of information and communications technology (ICT) by smallholder farmers in index countries which include information on product prices, farming practices, harvesting time and weather data, suitable for devices and cell phones used by smallholder farmers but it does not give any examples of these.

Gourd
Pepper (hot)
Watermelon

Carrot
Cucumber
Gourd
Green bean
Green pea
Lettuce
Melon
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for South and South-East Asia here.