Communities

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
sustainably

Community forms an integral part of our stakeholder ecosystem, and largely determines business ongoings and success. Our shared value creation model thrives with community partnership and trust. We look beyond our operational boundaries to have positive impact on society by nurturing and empowering community with education, skill development opportunities, good health, livelihood, and innovation. Keeping sustainable transformation at the epicentre, we expand the scope of social development initiatives around key thrust areas through our corporate social responsibility program.

2.55 Lakh acres with over 62,918 farmers*

Enrolled in Parachute Kalpavriksha program

2.89 Lakh teachers and 4.17 Lakh students

Impacted by the Nihar Shanti Pathshala program that boosts English literacy for students, who have limited access to advanced educational systems

3 Lakh+ lives*

Touched by Marico’s community sustenance program, conducted across all manufacturing units in the last 3 years

8 new disruptive innovations

Onboarded by the Marico Innovation Foundation in FY22

263 Crore litres*

Water conservation potential created by Jalashay program through construction of farm ponds. This is over 3 times of total water that Marico consumed in its operations in FY22

5,800+ placements

Achieved by the different skill empowerment programs offered under Nihar Skills Academy

55 Lakh beneficiaries across 17 Indian cities

Supported with Covid-relief efforts

16 Lakh beneficiaries

rom the ‘Eat Right certification program’, conducted in collaboration with FSSAI

30,000+ trees planted

As part of Marico’s Afforestation and Habitat Restoration program

* Cumulative

CSR governance

The scope of existing and new social value creation initiatives is worked out every year upon consultation with community representatives, and CSR committee. The goals and objectives along with the annual budgets for CSR are discussed and signed off at the beginning of the year. The CSR team implements the activities, and ensures timely progress.

The implementation of the CSR programs happens through multiple channels- Marico Innovation Foundation, Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation, local government bodies, and external NGO partners. The Committee reviews the efficacy and effectiveness of the ongoing programs, and monitors the outcome.

Marico’s CSR programs are impacting an interconnected stakeholder ecosystem

Marico’s business purpose is embodied in the way we demonstrate sustainable value creation for our stakeholders. We aspire to transcend beyond compliance boundaries and create deep-seated impact that matters, now and into the future.”

Amit Bhasin

Chief Legal Officer & Group General Counsel and
Secretary, CSR Committee

Our Key Initiatives

Kalpavriksha Program

Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation (PKF) is a non-profit organisation that steers to drive steps of change in the lives of farmers.

Objectives

  • Equip farmers to have increased sustainable crop yield leading to enhanced income opportunity
  • Train farmers on scientific and research-based agricultural practices which results the productivity improvement

Support activities

  • Consultation with experts (on phone)
  • Water conservation through farm pond construction
  • Classroom training for farmers

Support centres

Kalpavriksha Knowledge Centre (KKC)

Companion of farmers for increasing production and knowledge

Agri-Business Centre (ABC)

Agri-clinic offering farm care inputs and technical services

Activities that Boost Productivity Improvement

Kalpavriksha Knowledge Centre (KKC)

KKC was formed in 2021 to resolve cultivation related problems of small-scale farmers. The training and guidance sessions organised by KKC on pest control, nutrition management, water management at farm or disease prevention, have improved crop productivity.

FY25 Target

4.05 Lakh acres

Total area to be covered

1,16,660

Farmers to be enrolled
under Kalpavriksha
Program

16%

Increase in productivity

FY22 Performance

2.55 Lakh acres

Acreage enrollment till FY22

62,918

Farmers enrolled till FY22

24,135

Digitally enabled trainings
conducted for farmers to
enhance productivity

100+

On-field agronomists engaged

15%

Enhancement in
productivity rates in FY22

4.22 out of 5

Average rating
(rated by 1,054 farmers)

Agri-Business Centre (ABC)

The Agri-Business Centre is a local enterprise from where farmers can obtain farm care inputs, and avail technical services offered by local entrepreneurs. It provides a platform for farmers to hire high quality farm machinery, equipment, and technical assistance as well as labour, at cost effective prices, based on their requirements. By offering these services and goods through the Agri-Business Centre, local agripreneurs are gaining exposure and recognition, in addition to financial stability.

850+

Farmers covered with extended services
through 4 Agri-Business Centres, in FY22

Jalashay

Marico’s water stewardship program, ‘Jalashay,’ focuses on replenishing more water for the community than that consumed in its own operations, year-on-year. In a country that experiences disproportionate rainfall throughout the year, it is important that we identify the environmental, social, and economic concerns that might emerge out of water stress, and take conscious efforts towards abating them.

Objectives

  • Promote effective conservation and management of water across the country
  • Replenish more water back to the community than that Marico uses for its operations by capacity creation

Support activities

Farm ponds constructed in Tamil Nadu for farmers to help them with water management

FY25 Target

412 Crore litres

Total water harvesting capacity to be built across India

FY22 Performance

246

Farm ponds constructed

47.7 Crore litres

Total capacity of farm ponds
constructed

Water storage
potential created

through farm pond creation,
desilting water bodies and
construction of water storage
facilities in various states till date

~263 Crore litres

Total capacity of water
storage facilities in various
states till date

Water storage capacity created

Crore Litres

Nihar Shanti Paathshala Funwala (NSPF)

Naturals X Nihar CSR Programs: Living the Brand’s Purpose

As one of Marico’s signature brands that keeps purpose at the centre of its existence, Nihar Naturals has always focused on education and skill empowerment in alignment with its overall value proposition.

Initiated about four years back, the Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala program is focused on upskilling and empowering the government school-teachers to resolve the pressing issue of lack of consistency, and fluency in English Literacy, within the Indian education system. The program intends to increase the proficiency level of reading and speaking capabilities among the students from underserved areas. Over the years, contextualised content and comprehensive training processes have improved the teachers’ subject-matter knowledge, and enabled them to engage better with the students. The accessibility of digital learning resources has enhanced learning environment for students.

The Nihar Skills Academy was launched on September 25, 2021, as the next milestone towards deeper implementation of the brand purpose. Literacy is not just restricted to education, but also broadens to the concept of skills, which comprises technical expertise, vocational skills, transferable skills, digital skills, and other such knowledge and abilities required for employment and livelihood. To address this, and contribute to India’s share of employable workforce of tomorrow, the brand ‘Nihar’ collaborated with 3 implementation partners in FY22, to impart skill-based education, followed by placement opportunities to women and the youth of the country.

NSPF concentrates on English learning solutions for government school teachers, since fluency and communication in English have been a continuing area of concern. In collaboration with various state governments, we provided government teachers with quality teaching material. For students, we designed a scalable and fun-based learning model, supported by online as well as offline tools that not just impart education, but also bring about a transformation in the overall literacy quotient of our country.

Staying at par with technological advancements, the WhatsApp Enterprise model-based learning programs were developed, to upgrade teachers’ capabilities in learning and imparting English literacy. Engaging formats that were innovative, practical, and ruralready in nature, were deployed to create measurable and value-adding outcomes.

In FY22, WhatsApp (online) as well as workbook (offline)-led education was imparted in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. Expansion in the scope and footprint of this program in the year under review, has advanced us towards our FY25 target.

FY25 Target

10 Lakh

Children to be made literate in English by 2025

FY22 Performance

4.17 Lakh

Students impacted

2.89 Lakh

Teachers reached

5

States covered (Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh)

Nihar Skills Academy (NSA)

In tandem with good education, relevant skills pave way for employment opportunities. In order to enhance the livelihood acquirement process, Marico initiated Nihar Skills Academy (NSA) program in the reporting year. It was inaugurated on September 25, 2021, by Hon’ble Secretary of Ministry of Women and Child Development. The program conducts digital, vocational, and soft skills trainings for women and youth, making them industryready, in addition to organising placement drives for trained individuals. Education

Target

15,000

Women and youth to be provided
livelihood opportunities by 2025

FY22 Performance

7,900+

Women and youth benefitted through NSA

5

States covered

Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF)

Marico Innovation Foundation’s vision is to identify hidden, potential game-changing innovations and help them rapidly scale-up in India. Over the past 19 years, MIF has grown to be a torchbearer of driving change in the Indian startup ecosystem, having been associated with more than 100 Indian innovations through various programs, and themes that cuts across the various clauses of Schedule VII under Companies Act. MIF aims to nurture social innovation in India in a way that futureproofs the country's transformational agenda in terms of scale, growth and impact.

Scale-Up Program

It is a 360-degree philanthropic growth program that provides deep-rooted mentorship to high potential innovations. Key issues addressed by MIF under this program are related to product quality, marketing, and sales.

‘SCALE-UP PROGRAM‘ IN FY22

8

New disruptive innovations onboarded

23+

Strategic and functional mentors engaged

15

Collaborations with Game-changing Indian innovations

Sustainability Sector

45% increase in sales and
2X increase in awareness

Agriculture Sector

Development of robust
compliance framework
that would help in setting
up zero cost of non-
compliance in the future

Healthcare Sector

  • 100% increase in
    manufacturing capacity
  • Reduction in transit
    damage rate reduced
    from 30% to 0%
  • Development of sales
    framework that helped
    achieve 3X revenue
    growth

Healthcare Sector

6% cost savings and
strengthened internal
controls

New Collaborations

Atal Innovation Mission

Under Atal Innovation Mission (Niti Aayog initiative), MIF is currently working on a pilot mentor exchange program to support, and help scale the impact of their incubated organisations from the Northeast.

Intel Plug-In Alliance

Intel Plug-In Alliance (accelerator for Industry 4.0 innovations) is a first-of-its-kind industry technology alliance, to transform India into a global hub for smart industrial solutions. Together, MIF aims to share best practices, and expertise to boost the innovation ecosystem.

Community Sustenance: Our CSR Activities Around Facilities

Community sustenance initiatives are an opportunity to give back to the society we operate in, by addressing the needs of the local people. The program has its footprint in the areas located around our facilities, and comprises multiple activities.

FY22 activities

Education

  • Building libraries for underprivileged students
  • Digitalisation support to school and orphanage
  • Provision of educational support for marginalised students

Environment

  • Conducted beach clean-up drives
  • Rejuvenation of village ponds
  • Initiation of afforestation activity
  • Distribution of biodegradable bags & saplings for community

Infrastructure

  • Provision of infrastructure support to primary health centre, schools, old age home
  • Provision of streetlight for community

Disaster Relief

  • Distribution of PPE kits among public
  • Support to frontline workers
  • Contribution to government relief fund

Health

  • Organised medical health check-up camp for local residents and police personnel

WASH

  • Conducted food safety education and awareness campaigns
  • Provision for drinking water facility

Mission Health

Government officials of the age of 40 years and above, especially Police personnel have benefitted from this program. This mission covers Pondicherry, Perundurai, Guwahati, Jalgaon.

Issue

After certain years of service, police personnel start facing health issues ensued from improper diet, lack of sleep rotational shifts and no routine body checkups, mental stress owing to the nature of their job.

Solution

Marico planned to organize medical camps for police personal across plant locations offering full body check up to each beneficiary along with doctor consultation free of cost.

Implementation

Health camps organised for police personnel across Pondicherry, Perundurai, Guwahati, Jalgaon offered more than 70 types of medical tests to each beneficiary that included tests related to lipid profile, liver function, hemogram, thyroid profile, iron, kidney function, urine routine, eye and ear, to mention a few. This program was implemented and monitored by our NGO partner ‘Go Dharmic Foundation‘ in coordination with government officials.

Activities undertaken

  • Registration of police personnel
  • Arranged for the medical tests
  • Shared medical report with beneficiaries
  • Organised doctor consultation for beneficiaries
  • Distribution of health products among beneficiaries (Saffola honey)

Outcome

More than 550 police personnel benefitted

Collaborative efforts to enhance learning experiences in schools

Gouripur LP School in Guwahati is a true testament of Marico’s collaborative efforts to enhance learning experience in schools. We have extended its support through educational programs for students, infrastructural support, teachers’ trainings, etc, for a duration of over 5 years. The collaboration has so far benefitted 100 students and teachers.

Afforestation

Afforestation is an effective tool for carbon sequestration and has the potential to combat global warming, arrest soil erosion, reduce air pollution and biodiversity loss. We spearheaded the afforestation program in FY22 to do our bit towards environmental protection, and forest resource preservation. This year we planted more than 30,000 trees that contributed to the creation of more than 18,000 tCO2e sequestration potential across life span of trees*. The plantation drives were conducted through two projects: fruit tree distribution, and habitat protection.

Kimin Village, District Papum pare, Arunachal Pradesh

Bake Yama, a woman farmer from Papum pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, had plenty of land and zeal to cultivate sellable crops, but lacked the capital and technical knowhow. We supported her through the afforestation program, by planting more than 1,000 lemon saplings on her land, and providing technical guidance on citrus fruit farming. Now, Bake has successfully discovered a livelihood to achieve financial independence.

Fruit Tree Distribution

Under this project, 16,129 fruit trees were distributed among farmers, living in remote areas, and technical guidance was also provided to them to facilitate healthy growth of these trees.

Habitat Protection

Through the ‘Impact League’ initiative, 15,000 trees were planted, to protect the habitat of migratory birds.

We made an attempt to strengthen the local rural economy by spreading awareness about the habitat area of migratory birds like spot billed pelicans, painted storks, and greater adjutant storks at Telineelapuram bird sanctuary.

Eat Right Program

Eat Right India movement is our collaborative project with FSSAI, and is a collective effort of some of our important stakeholders. It is aligned with government’s public health programs- ‘Ayushman Bharat’, ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, and ‘POSHAN Abhiyaan’.

This project is aimed at bringing large-scale social and behavioural change, by engaging with consumers, and educating them on eating right at vegetable market, places of worship or stations. In the reporting year, we have aided 42 vegetable market certifications, and several capacity development sessions. This initiative has touched the lives of more than 16 Lakh beneficiaries, so far.

Marico Against COVID 19

While we were recovering from the first wave of Covid-19, the country was hit by the second and third waves in FY22. Recognising our social responsibility during these difficult times, we distributed necessary food kits across the country with the help of government as well as private agencies.

55 Lakh

Beneficiaries in 17 cities

21

Oxygen concentrators
arranged in 5 hospitals

60

Nebulisers arranged

Impact Evaluation of CSR activities - Outcomes at a Glance

In FY22, we appointed an external agency to conduct impact evaluation for our flagship programs- Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation, Jalashay, Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala, and Nihar Skills Academy. Key outcomes of the exercise are highlighted below:

Project Kalpavriksha Jalashay Nihar Shanti Paathshala Funwala Nihar Skills Academy*
Program Design and Delivery
  • Farmers rated program delivery as ‘Very Good’.
  • Key benefits reported: productivity improvement through enhanced soil health
  • Farmers rated program delivery as ‘Excellent’
  • Teachers - 85% of the teachers agreed benefiting from teacher training techniques.
  • 95% teachers rated the quality of training material to be ‘Good’.
  • Students - 98% of students have reported to gain learning capabilities, i.e., reading and speaking
  • 78% of the beneficiaries reported showing interest in work after completing their graduation
  • Students prefer Data Analytics as course of interest
Efficiency and Effectiveness
  • 100% farmers stated that PKF supported them in agricultural inputs. 80.5% of farmers have sought support from Agribusiness centres
  • Average spike in the income of the farmers have been 15%. Around 92.3% have stated spike in their monthly income
  • 100% of farmers have expressed increase in the groundwater levels as a result of the intervention. 3-year outcomes of the study will yield the average increase in groundwater table due to capacity creation by the program
  • 46.2% farmers believe that creation of farm ponds within or in vicinity of their farms have boosted productivity
  • 100% teachers expressed interest in honing their training techniques. The technologyenabled medium proved extremely beneficial in virtual learning session
  • 90% of the students reported that the course has helped them to acquire better employability skills
  • 17% of students have received placement support and 23% have been offered job opportunities
Way Forward
  • Set up community-owned and community driven enterprise that decides sales price of the yield as well as ideate on additional income generation schemes
  • Proper marketing and promotion of agribased products to generate long-term benefits
  • Explore traction of fishing as a secondary source of income
  • Trainings on water stewardship to farmers for judicious management & conservation
  • Draw linkages with government/NABARD irrigation schemes for increased benefit to farmers
  • Increase training duration for teachers for better uptake
  • Contextualize content based on grade for appropriate learning outcomes
  • Approach telecom companies for collaboration to provide beneficiaries with subsidised learning data plans
  • Mobilizing principals, coordinators, mentors of the institute towards creating job pool for students for timely program delivery
  • Create awareness about the initiative among parents by inviting them during the certification or similar ceremonies
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