There have been growing concerns about the change in climate and the impact it has on our country’s already poorly managed water resources. Increasing temperatures, risks of melting glaciers causing floods, changing rainfall patterns are all due to impact water resources and its management in the country. Access to water sources, both surface and groundwater, per person are declining because of increase in population growth and in some cases urbanization.
This year’s World Water Day theme ‘Nature and Climate Change’, underlines how water resources are linked with climate change. As a pilot market for the Caring for Water (C4W) - Pakistan initiative in 2017 and signatory to the Clean Green Pakistan initiative in 2019, Nestlé Pakistan continuously looks out for opportunities where it can make a difference.
We believe that we, as an organization, are well-placed to help address the climate change challenges. Our aim is to ensure continuity of our business and those in our supply chain while protecting the wider environment. We are taking steps and introducing various initiatives in our manufacturing units and beyond to address these challenges: from energy, water savings and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across our factory operations to water operational efficiency.
Since water is a shared resource, we realize the importance of working beyond our factory gates and take collective action, with other partners such as the government, communities, farmers, civil society and academia to help conserve this precious resource. Our C4w - Pakistan initiative is a manifestation of this approach, aimed towards encouraging initiatives according to local situations and needs.
In Pakistan, the percentage of water used in agriculture stands at 90%, with 50% wastage due to outdated and conventional irrigation methods. Nestlé Pakistan under the C4W initiative has partnered with Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab to encourage local farmers to adopt high efficiency irrigation techniques, such as drip irrigation.
To help farmers improve their water management and reduce their water use through high-efficiency irrigation techniques as well as new technologies, Nestlé has partnered with the Punjab Agriculture Department and Pakistan Agriculture Research Council to encourage local farmers to take up drip irrigation. This has helped us save estimated 391 million liters water by applying drip on 139 acres.
We are also developing model farms in partnership with different academic and research organizations by installing different types of furrow irrigation and sprinklers based on the farmers’ needs.
Similarly, under the Water Sense Project, our team has developed smart soil moisture sensors in collaboration with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). These sensors read the moisture level of the soil and send regular data updates to a cloud from where the farmer receives information about which areas he should irrigate and how much. This helps save water and increase productivity by reducing the chance of under or over-irrigation. These sensors are now available commercially with LUMS to be sold against a nominal price.
Meanwhile, we are aiming to certify all our sites by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) with WWF-Pakistan acting as our implementing partner. Talking about this standard, Hammad Naqi Khan, CEO of WWF Pakistan recently said, “Water stewardship along with water security and conservation remains an important pillar of WWF worldwide and WWF - Pakistan too vehemently promotes all sectors to adopt water stewardship through the implementation of AWS Standard.
“The standard allows the site regardless of its size, nature, sector and location to have a consistent and transparent approach towards water. For this purpose, we are helping redefine the role of the private sector in advocating, supporting and promoting better basin governance for the benefit of communities and nature simultaneously,” according to Naqi.
AWS guides companies and organizations about how to improve their water efficiency not just onsite, but also outside its fence. We have already acquired the certification for three out of four of our factories and we aim to become the only organization in Pakistan to have all its operational sites certified by AWS by the end of 2020.
While all such steps ensure efficiency, it is also important to create awareness and generate dialogue around the country’s water issues. To do this, we have partnered with Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) to engage an array of policy makers and legislators. To this end, SDPI has published a policy brief guiding how Water and the Private Sector can go hand in hand.
Similarly, to inculcate responsible use of water resources in our future generations, the company has made water education (on responsible use of water) an essential part of the Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) Program. Through this, the company reaches out to about 40,000 children every year.
Through our C4W-Pakistan initiative, the company plays its part in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-6 on water and sanitation across our value chain. As is also embedded in our purpose, enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future, through our C4W-Pakistan initiative, we, as a company, aim to do our part by helping conserve this shared resource. Since conserving water is everyone’s responsibility, we do so by taking collective action and strengthening partnerships in this domain.
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