Diversity & Inclusion
“Our programs aim to benefit smallholders regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religion or other such differences. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive workplace for all staff, where diversity of person, thought and experience are valued and respected. We wish to work alongside like-minded partners to promote these principles.”
Simon Winter, Executive Director, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
Our Diversity
The Foundation’s headquarters are in Basel, Switzerland. Our country and regional staff are primarily based in:
- Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, China, South-East Asia
- Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya
Our more than 150 employees represent some 15 nationalities and a wide variety of professional backgrounds.
Why it means so much for us
We want to support smallholders, but first, we need to understand their needs. By knowing different groups’ roles and preferences, we can build on their strengths, and provide access to what they lack.
Women play crucial roles in agriculture. They are usually the main farmworkers, and the local sellers, buyers, and preparers of food. But they are typically heavily disadvantaged.
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls is important. It highlights gender equality as a human right and a basis for peace, prosperity, and sustainability. Women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
Focus on neglected groups. Other social groups also need empowerment, e.g. rural youth. This increasingly affects decisions by development agencies, the private sector, and our program partners.
See what our Director posted about D&I in January 2020.
Our Diversity & Inclusion Policy
With our Policy, we want to promote practices that create and maintain a supportive, high-performance, team-orientated culture in order to:
- Enable the development of agricultural innovations for smallholders, and for them to use these innovations productively and profitably
- Encourage partnerships and develop scalable programs with high and inclusive impact
- Help attract, retain and advance capable, skilled persons in our teams by valuing diversity and inclusion, investing in development and opportunities, and providing a fair and safe working environment for all.
Our Diversity & Inclusion Policy: Key topics
- Innovation and creativity: We want to encourage Diversity & Inclusion to promote innovation & creativity for all our staff
- Beneficiaries: We want to better understand smallholders’ and agri-entrepreneurs’ individual needs and wishes, so they can participate fully in local economic life.
- Staff: We respect the unique contributions that different social groups bring to our workplaces and collaborations.
- Safety in diversity: We are pushing for a working environment in which employees feel safe to be themselves, without fear of discrimination.
- Collaborations: We promote diversity throughout our programs and partnerships.
- Monitoring performance: We want to maintain a high-performing culture that values diversity.
- Collective responsibility: All our employees respect the Diversity & Initiative Policy in offices, project sites, and programs.
Diversity & Inclusion Champions
The D&I Champions are our regional “face and voice” for topics related to Diversity & Inclusion. They act as good examples and encourage the local application of SFSA’s D&I Policy and related action plan. Our gallery below shows who they are.
Meet some Champions
From time to time, we feature individual D&I Champions on our website. Meet Parikrama Chowdhry (India), Ye Pyae Kwaw (Myanmar), Jackline Chemtai (Kenya), Adisti Novarinda (Indonesia) and Ousmane Sow (Senegal).
Nourin Akhter
Bangladesh
Moshfequel Alam Talukder
Bangladesh
Yuwei Duan
China
Parikrama Chowdhry
India
Rajendra Jog
India
Adisti Novarinda
Indonesia
Amam Ahmad
Indonesia
Jackline Chemtai
Kenya
Samuel Guindo
Mali
Ye Pyae Kyaw
Myanmar/Mekong
Ousmane Sow
Senegal
Marnie Pannatier
Switzerland
Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee
Rebecca Hubert Scherler - Legal Counsel
Victoria Johnson-Chadwick - Head of Partnerships
Simon Winter - Executive Director
Vivienne Anthony - Senior Scientific Advisor
George Osure - Country Director Kenya
Baskar Reddy - Country Director India
Mamadou Cisse & Paul Castle: Communications