Project Cultivar's Dialogue Roundtables Address Public Health Emergency by Raising Awareness on Taking Preventative Measures

On April 8, 2011, the Dominican Ministry of Public Health announced the deaths of 3 agricultural workers who had migrated from Haiti to cut sugarcane in the eastern province of La Romana, raising the total number of cholera fatalities to 10 with 712 cases of infection. Starting in November 2010, growing concern motivated multi-stakeholder roundtable dialogues (mesas de dialogo) to discuss a plan for preventing cholera across the country. Thus far, no deaths from cholera have been reported on farms participating with Project Cultivar.   

An estimated 30,000 Haitian workers migrate each year to its neighboring country, the Dominican Republic, and live in bateyes [migrant worker communities, traditionally in the agriculture sector]. As these bateyes often lack basic services such as clean water, sanitation, and public education; residents face high risk of contagious illnesses such as cholera.

In December 2010, SAI and the Center for Cultural Research and Support (CIAC-- SAI's local partners in the Dominican Republic through Project Cultivar)-- convened the first 'mesa de dialogo,' on cholera prevention. These meetings mobilized sugarcane producers from the Asociaci�n de Colonos de Consuelo, sugar refineries, community organizations, schools, and government representatives to discuss a plan for preventing cholera in the country. The roundtable created a space to address this public health emergency, and produced a plan implemented on every farm in the Dominican Republic that works with Project Cultivar.

Building on the momentum generated by the first roundtable, the Ministry of Labor suggested that Project Cultivar convene a second roundtable for the banana sector in Mao, Valverde, located on the Haitian border. SAI and the Institute for Popular Culture and Local Self-Reliance in the Northwest Region (INCAP-- SAI's local partners in Cultivar for work in the banana sector)-- did so. We jointly convened an impressive roster of stakeholders from the Army, the Ministries of Migration, Health and Labor, and producers. A majority of the banana associations in the region-- including, Banamiel, Asoanor and Santa Cruz -- participated in the tripartite discussion on cholera prevention.  

These events within the sugarcane and banana sectors resulted in a revised and more defined labor policy -- the Hygiene Law Specific to Cholera in the Workplace (Normativa de Higiene Espec�fica sobre C�lera para Centros de Trabajo).  This document, a redefined Ministry of Labor policy -- together with the Project Cultivar technical manual on workplace hygiene and cholera prevention practices, -- constitutes the main documents for training labor inspectors on the prevention of contagious illnesses in the Dominican Republic.  

The next roundtable will take place on May 13, with the goal of extending the cholera prevention practices to more workplaces and  worker communities. 

On April 15, SAI-NL convened a board meeting in Amsterdam to discuss strategic issues for scaling up in Europe. As SAI continues to grow, SAI-NL will actively cooperate with European stakeholders to help increase the effectiveness of SAI's work.

SAI-NL's board members are:  Gemma Crijns, CSR Consultant; George Jaksch, Senior Director Corporate Responsibility and  Public Affairs for Chiquita Brands International; Edwin Koster, SAI European Representative and Board Secretary; Alice Tepper Marlin, SAI President and Chair  of the SAI-NL Board; and Gunelie Winum, Senior Project Manager of ETI  Norway. SAI-NL will expand board membership and ensure balanced stakeholder representation.   

SAI-NL's office is located in Amsterdam, and is led by Edwin Koster. Mr. Koster is also the founder of Max Value Sustainability in the Netherlands, an SAI Authorized Representative organization.

At Costa Rica's first Business Forum on Sustainability and the Environment, Roberto Vega, Director of Sustainability at Dole (left) and Sylvain Cuperlier, VP of CSR at Dole (right), stand with former U.S. Vice- President and conference participant, Al Gore.

March 16- Costa Rica's first Business Forum on Sustainability and the Environment SAI Advisory Board member Sylvain Cuperlier (Dole VP of CSR), and alternate member Roberto Vega, (Dole Director of Sustainability), attended this forum and presented on Dole's four pillars of sustainability, as well as on initiatives currently being implemented in Costa Rica.