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BIOESSENCE LABORATORIES open their business to the world and creates value from their roots

7. Community involvement

Community development

Context

Bioessence laboratories were founded in September 2005 with a desire to promote cosmetics by promoting African flora. The aim is to combine traditional know-how (old practices of beauty treatments and handed-down natural medicine, often through initiation, from generation to generation which is endangered today), expertise, and technology to transmit the richness of African biodiversity to the world through its body and hair care.
Bioessence, in 2007, specialized in the extraction of oils and natural plant extracts with highly concentrated assets that are very beneficial to the well-being and health of the human body.
These actions naturally fall under a sustainable development mission in rural areas, conservation of forest resources, the use of agricultural products such as wasted seeds and nuts which are often thrown away or sold (hundreds of tons every year) as is, and most of all promoting "Made in Africa".

Objectives

Bioessence chose to work with the poorest communities of Senegal to give them the opportunity to ensure a sustainable income and improve their standard of living.
Aware that investing in improving their working conditions, listening to their expectations and ideas, in turn, they gain a sense of pride in their work. This is an extra motivation for making a better quality.

APPROACH

Bioessence collaborates with the poorest and economically marginalized communities (not part of the mining activities in the region), in:
- Working with ethnic minorities deliberately in order to ensure security and economic self-sufficiency;
- Creating sustainable jobs, notably by choosing to relocate the primary processing activities in rural areas;
- Pre-financing of raw materials with the formation of a credit union to enable women's cooperatives to purchase and pay for their raw materials at their own rhythm.
- To equip cooperatives to facilitate their work (materials and safety equipment, presses and mills, engines) and even renovating the home of women,
- Contractualize the income of women;
- Participant in the Wulanafaa USAID reforestation program, by paying more for raw materials so that part of it is donated to the Eaux & Forets reforestation program.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Bioessence, by being committed in the decentralization of a part of its activities in rural areas, protects its supply source, ensures the sustainability of its investments in people and established a lasting relationship of trust with its employees.
Development of 30% of the volume of turnover expected this year.

Benefits

- By enabling 716 women in the Baobab sector and 320 women in the Karité sector to add value to local products, they ensure an income multiplied by 4.5 which allows them to send their children to school and pay for the medical needs of their families.
- Use of agricultural by-products (including nuts and seeds) usually thrown away by hundreds of tons per year in the field. 

Turnover
678 950 €
Country
Senegal

Mise à jour le 25/05/2016

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