D. 21-01-2016

To our stakeholders
I am pleased to confirm the FarmMountain reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in areas of Human Rights, Labour, Enviroment and Anti-Corruption.

The partnership between FarmMountain and Satemwa Tea Estate is based on an acknowledgement of the importance that we all do our part to ensure a better place for future generations by working towards three of the UN’s millennium goals for 2015.

FarmMountain´s values are based on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Everything we do is intended to
make progress towards reaching them. We also require our farmers to sign the UN’s Global Compact, as we believe its values to be essential for our relationship.
We want to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy and daily operations.

Sincerely yours.

Lars Bendix
CEO/ Founder

Why are Human Rights relevant for FarmMountain?
We believe that:
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood".
Our whole company is built on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Everything we do is intended to make progress by reaching them, here under Human Rights.

How do we, FarmMountain, make concrete actions to implement Human Rights in Africa?
Promote gender equality and empower women in Africa:

Jatropha nuts and oil:
In a project we did in Africa, Uganda, to reduce the felling of trees by teaching people to build energy efficient stoves, we learned that we also can help single African women in difficult situations.
The biodegradable briquettes used in the stoves will be mixed with the Jatropha nuts/oil to make them even better. These Jatropha plants are sold and grown in small nurseries run by these single women. We help them with their business.

Menstrual pad project:
Many young girls have to leave school early in all four of the districts for a number of reasons: teen pregnancy, the inability to afford school fees, violence and sexual abuse. But they also leave school or stay home when they have their menstrual periods due to lack of hygienic facilities. In each district a group of these dropout women attend courses to learn to sew. Among the products are washable menstrual pads and school uniforms. This gives the, otherwise, disadvantaged girls an income. The project both help girls who are in school stay in school and the dropout get an income.

Bean Sorting project:
Coffee sorting is mainly done in two ways: either on a conveyer belt slowly passing 10 women, or by hand. FarmMountain has developed a coffee bean sorting unit. The unit is built on very simple principles. It enhances the coffee's quality and improves the working conditions for the sorting women. The goal is to increase the income for the women by using this unit and thereby their productivity.
We are still in the process of finding relevant business partners for this project.

Adult education project:
We believe all humans have the right to learn. It is not always enough to have an income; literacy is crucial.
Therefore we conduct courses for up to 200 men and women who learn how to read and right.
Funding has been provided by CISU to continue the training.

How do we monitor and evaluate:
We see with our own eyes what has happened in the time pasted. It is important for us to have a close contact with our farmers and be able to know them personally.

Partnership:
The partnership between the company and farmers are strong; we always strive to make our customers know where the coffee comes from and also which farmer has produces the coffee. We are a small organization so the farmers only deal with one or two persons. We always treat the farmers with dignity and listen to their point of view. We also value their craftsmanship and their knowledge about the coffee trees and beans. The partnership between the company and farmers are strong; we always strive to make our customers know where the coffee comes from and also which farmer has produces the coffee.

Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company:
It is very relevant for us to make sure that the Labour Rights for women in Africa are getting better.
We believe that the women needs better conditions when they work and we are also working on project to better the situation.

Our goal for 2016 is to keep supporting women in Africa!

We are bettering the labour force conditions for the women who are sorting our beans, this means a great deal to us. The womens do not have to sit on the floor and sort the beans, they can use the FarmMountain unit at a table and be more productive and thereby increase their income.

Solar power project:
Our solar power project is making sure that the labour get a place to work with electricity. It also provides for new businesses to open, like start small hair salons.

How do we monitor and evaluate:
We see with our own eyes what has happened in the time pasted. It is important for us to have a close contact with our farmers and be able to know them personally.

Environmental issues is very relevant for us due to the line of work we do. We work in the the food industry so the quality must be at the best, we need to make sustainable solutions for the farmers.

Stovea, Bio-Briquettes and Jathropa:
To reduce the felling of threes, we have taught people to build energy-efficient stoves to replace cooking over an open fire and three stones. With the smoke now heading out of the huts, the stove ultimately reduce the incidence of serious lung diseases, most specifically among women.
An adequate supply of dry wood is vital to create a properly burning fure. But in the rainy area, obtaining it in the right quantities is difficult.

Solar power project:
The project started on the six schools in the four districts, There is no general electricity in the area, but now the population has been a place where they can meet in the evening, including a location for children to do their homework.

How do we monitor and evaluate:
We see with our own eyes what has happened in the time pasted. It is important for us to have a close contact with our farmers and be able to know them personally.