Bayer

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers
Bayer has a strategy for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers that includes prioritizing the conservation of genetic resources, intellectual property rights management, research and development, seed production, marketing and sales and capacity building. The company has a target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers by 2030. It provides evidence for its periodic review of its strategy and objectives and, as of 2020, states that it has reached 45 million smallholder farmers.

Governance and accountability
Bayer’s chairman of the board of management and chief sustainability officer are responsible for implementing its access to seeds strategy within its broader sustainability strategy and targets. The company links its remuneration policy for its management board to meeting its 2030 target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers.

Licensing
Bayer has an internal Stewardship Guiding Principle to grant access to its technologies for humanitarian purposes. The guideline grants requests from third parties in index countries for transferring technology related to seeds and traits. The company provided royalty-free licensing of GM maize lines to the TELA Maize Project run by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), to provide farmers with access to insect resistant and drought tolerant hybrids. Through its Cowpea Collaboration (Bt Cowpea) with the AATF, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center, the company donated proprietary technology to, which it made available royalty-free, to develop cowpea varieties with improved disease resistance for the benefit of smallholder farmers in the region.

Plant breeding activities in index countries and developing improved varieties of local crops
The company has its own breeding programme in Nigeria and invests in the capacity building of local research staff. The company partners with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the Modern Breeding Project to support research and development in Western and Central Africa. This includes significant investments into the breeding programmes for maize, cowpea and soya bean, as well as local crops like cassava and yam.

Breeding programme for specific traits
The company’s breeding programme includes developing a number of particularly important traits for smallholder farmers, such as improved nutritional value and specific cultural and culinary preferences. The company also focuses on incorporating resistance/tolerance to pests and diseases, notably the development of maize varieties that can withstand maize lethal necrosis (MLN). These traits are especially important for smallholder farmers in index countries.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
The company has International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) accredited labs for maintaining seed quality in its production facilities in the region. Each facility is accredited with ISO 9001 quality management system.

Quality and safety of varieties
Bayer adheres to protocols from the International Seed Health Initiative (ISHI) on safeguarding the quality and safety of seeds. It also adheres to biosafety protocols in marketing genetically modified organisms. In addition, when introducing new varieties in index countries, the company states that it adheres to country-specific requirements for variety testing and applies the ISHI standards in countries lacking protocols.

Information and communications technology (ICT)
In Western and Central Africa, the company partnered with the start-up myAgro to provide smallholders with an innovative prepaid system for agricultural products. This initiative has reached 34,000 smallholders in Western Africa.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses that its stakeholder engagement covers access to seeds topics. While Bayer has engaged with stakeholder groups to create a materiality matrix for sustainability information, it could strengthen its disclosure by detailing how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders, as well as how the outcomes of the engagement process are integrated into the implementation of the company’s access to seeds strategy.

Conservation of genetic resources
The company assists genebanks with conserving germplasm from index countries through yield trials, nursery resources, plant testing and technical expertise. While such activities are commendable, the company could further strengthen its conservation efforts through projects concerned with the in situ conservation of local agrobiodiversity in index countries.

Variety testing
Bayer conducts variety trials on crops from its own breeding programme in two out of the 12 countries where it is active: Nigeria and Senegal. The company could consider extending its testing locations to other countries in the region where it is active in, strengthening the local seed sector, and testing varieties from agricultural research institutes or those of other companies or sources.

Seed production activities in index region
Smallholders produce all of the company’s seed in Nigeria. It involves local companies, farmer organizations and local farmers in its seed production activities, formalizing farmers’ involvement with contracts. Bayer has the opportunity to broaden its seed production activities to other index countries in Western and Central Africa.

Social and labour rights in seed production
The company states that it has a zero tolerance for child labour, which is codified in its human rights policy, modern slavery statement and supplier code of conduct. However, it could increase transparency by disclosing whether it verifies the age of farmers and farm workers and requesting intermediaries to do the same. In addition, Bayer’s forced labour policy could be improved by guaranteeing that no farmers are harassed, disclosing in more detail how it monitors this issue and reporting on its findings. The company further reports that it pays living wages in every country where it has operations. However, the company’s living wage definition does not include the dependents of the workers, so it may not always be enough to guarantee a dignified living for the families of the workers involved in the company’s seed production. The company further discloses that it has health and safety standards in place but does not disclose how intermediaries monitor these when they carry out seed production.

Affordability
Bayer has microfinance and insurance programmes in the region, including myAgro, a microfinance programme in Mali and Senegal, and a collaboration with the insurance company Pula. The company has an opportunity to expand its affordability programmes by offering credits, tailored cost models and optional collective bargaining.

Quality assurance and after-sales
Bayer has implemented management systems to ensure seed quality during distribution and sales. These include using quality assurance systems to protect germination and seed health, monitoring its distribution network by training its distributors and implementing after-sales support programmes to address product feedback. The company states that it will implement product safety technology by 2022 to prevent the sale of counterfeit seeds. Additionally, the company could disclose its programmes for ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf life.

Next-generation farmers
The company has an opportunity to increase disclosure on its approaches to building the capacity of next-generation farmers in the region.

Cabbage
Cucumber
Onion

Beans, dry
Maize
Millets
Rice, paddy
Sorghum
Soya bean

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

Cassava
Yam

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

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers
Bayer has a strategy for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers that includes prioritising the conservation of genetic resources, intellectual property rights management, research and development, seed production, marketing and sales and capacity building. The company has a marketing and sales target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers by 2030. Bayer provides evidence for its periodic review of its strategy and objectives and, as of 2020, states that it has reached 45 million smallholder farmers.

Governance and accountability
Bayer’s chairman of the board of management and chief sustainability officer are responsible for implementing its access to seeds strategy, within its broader sustainability strategy and targets. The company links its remuneration policy for its board of management to the 2030 target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers.

Benefit sharing
Bayer makes contributions within the access and benefit-sharing framework through a variety of projects and initiatives. The company provides financial support for virus-resistant cassava for farmers in Africa, giving them access to improved varieties that it can grow, harvest, multiply, and share free of charge. The company also works with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to share know-how in technology advancements with plant breeders so that it can increase genetic gain in countries such as Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Licensing
Bayer has an internal Stewardship Guiding Principle to grant access to its technologies for humanitarian purposes. The guideline is used to grant requests from third parties in index countries for transferring seeds and traits related technology. The company provided royalty-free licensing on certain maize lines to the TELA Maize Project, with the aim of providing farmers with access to improved hybrids with drought tolerance and insect resistance.

Plant breeding activities in index countries in the region and developing improved varieties of local crops
The company has its own breeding programme in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia and invests in the capacity building of local research staff. The company partners with IITA on the Modern Breeding Project to support research and development in Eastern and Southern Africa as well as Western and Central Africa. This includes significant investments into the breeding programmes of maize, banana, cowpea, soya bean as well as local crops like cassava and yam. The company provides technical support and shares best practices in modern plant breeding methodologies with the aim of modernising national breeding programmes.

Breeding programme for specific traits
The company’s breeding programme includes developing a number of traits that are particularly important for smallholder farmers in index countries, such as improved nutritional value and resistance and tolerance to abiotic stress. The company also focuses on incorporating resistance and tolerance to regionally important pests and diseases, notably the development of maize varieties that are able to withstand maize lethal necrosis (MLN).

Seed production activities in index region
Bayer has seed production locations in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. The company engages with local players in its seed production in index countries by developing and engaging local organisations and cooperatives.

Quality management in seed production
The company’s seed production is entirely covered by its ISO 9001 quality management system. Third-party selection criteria are based on significant quality considerations, and third parties are trained on internal and legal quality seed production standards. In addition, all third-party seeds are subject to all internal testing-sampling by a Bayer Quality representative, and the company uses an audit process to ensure that third parties are adhering to internal standards.

Quality and safety of varieties
Bayer adheres to protocols from the International Seed Health Initiative (ISHI) on safeguarding the quality and safety of seeds. The company adheres to biosafety protocols in marketing genetically modified varieties. When introducing new varieties in index countries, the company states that it adheres to country-specific requirements for variety testing and applies similar standards for variety testing in countries lacking protocols.

Diverse portfolio
Bayer has four or more varieties for most crops in nearly all index countries it is active in and offers both hybrid and genetically modified varieties of maize.

Packaging and labelling
Bayer provides packages with local languages in all of the index countries it is active in, as well as pictograms when necessary per its Product Stewardship Policy. In Malawi, the company provides track and trace systems through a verification code on seed packaging. It also provides package sizes appropriate to the needs of smallholder farmers.

Extension services
The company provides extension services to just under a half of the index countries it is active in: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. These are provided through initiatives such as Better Farms, Better Lives. Bayer introduced this initiative in 2020 to help smallholder farmers overcome the immediate challenges caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The company gave farmers farming kits containing Bayer’s hybrid seeds, crop protection products and personal protective equipment, as well as safety and training materials.

Programmes for women farmers
In Tanzania, Bayer supports myAgro, a startup company which created a mobile layaway scheme allowing farmers to put aside cash during the dry season to purchase  inputs that will significantly increase their harvests during the rainy reasons. Smallholders can buy myAgro scratch cards for only an equivalent of one dollar to order and pay for seeds and fertilizer that are delivered directly to farmers’ villages in advance of the planting season. In addition to receiving seeds and fertilizer, farmers also receive agricultural training delivered by a network of “village entrepreneurs.” The company reports having reached just over 1000 farmers in Tanzania during 2020, 60% of which are women.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses that its stakeholder engagement covers access to seeds topics. While Bayer has engaged with stakeholder groups to create a materiality matrix for sustainability information, it could strengthen its disclosure by detailing how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders, and how the outcomes of the engagement process are integrated into the company’s access to seeds strategy.

Farmer’s privilege
The company uses contracts or other mechanisms to prevent all forms of farm-saved seeds (saving, exchange and sale on non-branded seed) by smallholder farmers in the South Africa for its genetically modified (GM) corn and soya bean varieties. Furthermore, the company does not allow sale of non-branded saved seed for non-GM varieties, although it does not intend to enforce its intellectual property rights against smallholder farmers for private and non-commercial use of farm saved seed.

Social and labour standards in seed production
The company states it has zero tolerance for child labour, which is codified in its human rights policy, modern slavery statement and supplier code of conduct. However, it could increase transparency by disclosing whether it verifies the age of farmers and farm workers and requesting intermediaries to do the same. In addition, Bayer could improve its forced labour policy by guaranteeing that no farmers are harassed, disclosing in more detail how it monitors this issue and reporting on its findings. The company further reports that it pays living wages in every country where it has operations. However, the living wage definition does not include the dependents of the workers, so it is not enough to guarantee a dignified living for the families involved in making the company’s product. The company further discloses that it has health and safety standards in place but does not disclose how intermediaries monitor these when it carries out seed production.

Quality assurance and after-sales
Bayer has implemented management systems to ensure seed quality during distribution and sales. Such systems include quality assurance systems to protect germination and seed health and after-sales support programmes to address product feedback. The company states that it will implement product safety technology by 2022 to prevent the sale of counterfeit seeds. Additionally, the company could disclose its programmes for ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf life.

Next-generation farmers
The company has an opportunity to increase disclosure on its approaches to building the capacity of next-generation farmers in the region.

Corn
Tomato
Onion

Beans, dry
Maize
Rice, paddy

Cabbage
Carrot
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Green bean
Green pea
Melon
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Cassava
Yam

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

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers
Bayer has a strategy for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers that includes prioritizing the conservation of genetic resources, intellectual property rights management, research and development, seed production, marketing and sales and capacity building. The company has a target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers by 2030. The company provides evidence for its periodic review of its strategy and objectives and, as of 2020, states that it has reached 45 million smallholder farmers.

Governance and accountability
Bayer’s chairman of the board of management and chief sustainability officer are responsible for implementing its access to seeds strategy, within its broader sustainability strategy and targets. The company links its remuneration policy for its management board to meeting its 2030 target of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers.

Benefit sharing
The company makes contributions within the access and benefit-sharing framework. It is also working with the National Biodiversity Authority in India to support monetary and non-monetary benefit-sharing through the use of germplasm acquired by the company in its acquisition of Indian seed companies in the recent past.

Plant breeding activities in index region
The company has its own breeding programme in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as collaborative research activities. In Indonesia, Bayer and Plant Breeders without Borders collaborate with Bogor University to empower 30 farmers and agricultural students to develop their own varieties of Bambara groundnut and other Indonesian indigenous vegetables.

Variety testing
The company conducts variety trials across various agroclimatic zones in the region and provides smallholder farmers with free commercial hybrid seed to conduct adaptability trials. For example, the company worked with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to conduct such trials in Indian villages where corn is not traditionally grown. Women farmers play an integral role in variety testing.

Breeding programme for specific traits
Bayer’s breeding programme includes developing a number of particularly important traits for smallholder farmers, such as improved nutritional value and resistance and tolerance to abiotic stress. The company also focuses on incorporating resistance and tolerance to regionally important pests and diseases. Notably, the company developed Arize – a first-of-its-kind hybrid rice seed bred with resistance to brown plant hopper and bacterial leaf blight.

Seed production activities in index region and engaging smallholder farmers in seed production
The company has seed production locations in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, where it engages local organizers and cooperatives in its seed production. Bayer involves smallholder farmers in its seed production activities. The company discloses it offers smallholders formal contracts which provide arrangements on product prices.

Diverse portfolio
Bayer offers four or more varieties for most crops in nearly all of the index countries in which it has sales. Additionally, it offers both hybrids and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) in its regional portfolio, and it offers both seed types of onion.

Other agricultural inputs
The company makes other agricultural inputs available to smallholder farmers and promotes the sustainable use by labelling its products with application instructions suitable to smallholder farmers. These labels are in line with its Product Stewardship Policy, which requires the labelling of products according to the Global Harmonized Systems Codes and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Guidelines on Good Labelling Practice of Plant Protection Products.

Extension services
The company provides extension services across the majority of countries in the region. In addition, it provides training programmes for smallholder farmers on the best management and agriculture practices, including safe use of pesticides, compliance with international trade rules and access to local partnerships and outreach efforts. The company also has a ‘farm to market alliance,’ which helps smallholders receive relevant information, investment and support from seed to market. The company tracks the number of smallholders reached in the region, reaching more than 6,000 smallholder farmers through its holistic agriculture initiative in India, and around 900 farmers through its training initiatives in Vietnam in the period 2018-2020.

Programmes for women farmers
Through its Better Life Farming alliance, Bayer connects women entrepreneurs to serve women smallholder farmers. The company also partners with the Internal Finance Corporation to run gender sensitisation training sessions to bring women smallholders into mainstream commercial farming. Furthermore, Bayer supports myAgro, a start-up company which created a mobile layaway scheme allowing farmers to put aside cash during the dry season to purchase inputs that will significantly increase their harvests during the rainy reasons. Smallholders can buy myAgro scratch cards for only an equivalent of one dollar to order and pay for seeds and fertilizer that are delivered directly to farmers’ villages in advance of the planting season. In addition to receiving seeds and fertilizer, farmers also receive agricultural training delivered by a network of “village entrepreneurs.”

Information and communications technology (ICT)
Through its FarmRise™ mobile application, the company provides smallholders with real-time weather alerts, market information and agronomic advice directly to smallholder farmers. The application uses satellite and drone data to provide farmers with real-time crop updates. Furthermore, in India Bayer started providing agronomic advisory services thorough audio bridge calls as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which limited the possibility of in-person trainings. Through this initiative, the company reached over 100,000 farmers every day. Within the region, Bayer also launched ‘Bayer Learning Centres,’ where it provided agronomic information such as crop system interventions and product information. Bayer Pakistan organised a total of 40 of these centres across the country, where over 8,000 smallholders were involved annually. In addition, through its programme ‘AgriFin Mobile’ in Indonesia, the company provides a unified platform which offers smallholder farmers farming advice and financial services.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses that its stakeholder engagement covers access to seeds topics. While Bayer has engaged with stakeholder groups to create a materiality matrix for sustainability information, it could strengthen its disclosure by detailing how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders, as well as how the outcomes of the engagement process are integrated into the company’s access to seeds strategy.

Conservation of genetic resources
Bayer assists genebanks with conserving germplasm from index countries through yield trials, nursery resources, plant testing and technical expertise. While such activities are commendable, the company could further strengthen its conservation efforts through projects concerned with the in situ conservation of local agrobiodiversity in index countries.

Farmer’s privilege
The company uses contracts or other mechanisms to prevent all forms of farm-saved seeds (saving, exchange and sale on non-branded seed) by smallholder farmers in the Philippines and Vietnam for its genetically modified (GM) corn varieties. Furthermore, the company does not allow sale of non-branded saved seed for non-GM varieties, although it does not intend to enforce its intellectual property rights against smallholder farmers for private and non-commercial use of farm saved seed.

Local participation in breeding/variety development
The company acknowledges women’s critical role in variety selection, providing feedback on product preferences to breeders in the region. Bayer also generally states that women manage 80%–90% of its late-stage breeding trials, from which the company collects feedback. However, the company could clarify the specific ways it uses feedback from local farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the region to inform its breeding programme.

Social and labour rights in seed production
The company states that it has zero tolerance for child labour, which is codified in its human rights policy, modern slavery statement and supplier code of conduct. However, it could increase transparency by disclosing whether it verifies the age of farmers and requesting intermediaries to do the same. In addition, Bayer’s forced labour policy could be improved by guaranteeing that no farmers are harassed, disclosing in more detail how it monitors this issue and reporting on its findings. The company further reports that it pays living wages in every country where it has operations. However, the living wage definition does not include the dependents of the workers, so it is not enough to guarantee a dignified living for the families involved in making the company’s product. The company further discloses that it has health and safety standards in place but does not disclose how intermediaries monitor these when they carry out seed production.

Quality assurance and after-sales
Bayer has implemented management systems to ensure seed quality during distribution and sales. Such systems include quality assurance systems to protect germination and seed health and after-sales support programmes to address product feedback. The company states that it will implement product safety technology by 2022 to prevent the sale of counterfeit seeds. Additionally, the company could disclose its programmes for ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf life.

Corn
Rice
Tomato

Maize
Millets
Rice

Cabbage
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Eggplant
Gourd
Green bean
Lettuce
Maize
Melon
Millets
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Mustard

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