The power of partnership…

The new programme seeks to expand the capacity to export US hides and leather to target countries including those in the African continent. A priority as part of that effort is to build in local capacity to be able use best practices in leather production and further export finished leather into the international market. To assist in developing this long-term capacity, L&HCA has committed to an ongoing training initiative, including a train-the-trainers element to ensuring meaningful long-term development for continued sustainable value.

For many facilities they may have some (or no) environmental, social or governance (ESG) systems/structures and to help them, and the industry, the purpose is to build a structured approach on how a facility progresses from nothing to a world-class sustainability framework. This includes a toolbox that includes training, standards and benchmarks, pathway papers, templates, key factsheets on legislative and regulatory requirements, and other basic information.

The Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) will provide a systematic training, support and certification programme with selected facilities within the approved geographies. The SLF program will consist of Inception Workshops, Preliminary Inspection Visits, Guided Support, Formal Audit and Certification, and ongoing support. The work will require a phased approach that may span 18-24 months and will be phased to ensure that all regions and facilities have sufficient time to benefit from support.

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute will be working closely with SLF on local support and will shadow the work conducted by SLF in order to provide local support for the facilities that are taking part in the programme. Our intention is to create a solid foundation for continued work with local knowledge and expertise.

The power of partnership is clearly demonstrated by the three organisations working together for better outcomes for our industry and we look forward to sharing future progress updates with you.

Inception Workshop – Addis Ababa, 18-19th November 2024

The first 2-day workshop will take place on 18-19th November, to introduce key concepts, frameworks and methodology. Working with ALLPI to ensure that as many facilities as possible can attend, we will be delivering advice on best practice for process, sustainability and traceability. The workshops will be tailored to suit 3 levels of attendee:

• worker (from material handler to equipment operator) – characterized by education ranging from illiterate to high school graduate,
• middle manager – can be technically trained either through a local or international qualification, or through experiential learning,
• owner/senior manager -often business graduates, or children of the owners who learnt their trade through apprenticeship.

The training activities will focus on awareness building of tannery owners, top and middle management as well as ESG dedicated tannery personnel. The workshop content will include presentation-based training, practical exercises and open discussion sessions.

All participants will complete pre-and-post audit questionnaires to assess the value of the work, along with certificates of attendance on completion. All facilities that participate in the program will receive complimentary access to the SLF resources for a period of 2 years included as part of the project.

Following the 2-day Inception Workshop, the programme will continue with:

• Preliminary Assessment Visits. SLF will conduct preliminary assessment visits at participating tanneries. These preliminary assessment visits will take 1 to 2 days depending on the facility and will be conducted by an SLF auditor.
• Preliminary findings reports will be prepared and will include recommendations for improvement actions that facilities can use to incorporate best practices and implement recommended systems and procedures. The recommendations will be broken into 3 categories:
• Short Term Goals – elements that will be possible to implement or improve before the formal audit and should be carried out.
• Medium Term Goals – elements that may require a small amount of investment either in time or cost but should be given consideration ahead of the formal audit.
• Long Term Goals – elements that are important and should be built into future development/investment plans but recognising that these may not be possible ahead of the formal audit.
• Support and Resources. All participating facilities will have access to the full Technical Library in the Partner Resources area of the SLF website. During the development period, all participating facilities will have regular communication with the SLF team to ensure progress and preparation for the formal audit.
• Formal Audit and Certification. Participating facilities will also participate in a complete and formal audit of their ESG capabilities. Each audit will take 3 days on site and will be conducted by SLF Auditors. Following the audit, a full audit report is prepared along with certification for all elements of ESG that meet the standard. In addition, data collected will be integrated into an industry-wide life cycle assessment to provide facility level performance ranking for key impact categories.

Each audited facility then has 2 years’ ongoing partnership of SLF included from the date of the audit. This will ensure support and continued improvement after the end of the project.

For more information please contact:
Info@sustainableleatherfoundation.com or executive.director@allpi.int