CMO to market certified forest products via global trading platform

This way please … CMO founder Michal Brink is taking certified forest products to market via a worldwide trading platform called IcePik.

The South African-based CMO Group has secured investment from venture capital fund E4E Africa to grow its forest-based operations and establish a global trading platform for certified forest products.

“The funding will be used to further enhance the company’s existing software, as well as to build a trading platform to provide market access for responsibly produced forest products in the mainstream global market, especially in the northern hemisphere,” says Michal Brink, CEO and founder of the CMO Group.

Michal says that the main driver of the development is to create and guarantee supply chain security all along the value chain. To achieve this goal the CMO model hinges on three pillars:
• The establishment of Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified Group Schemes using its in-house developed PerForm software – enabling digital management and auditing of forest operators, with the emphasis on small to medium growers who have been largely excluded from the certification process, as a result of complexity and cost.
• Providing technical support services such as training and consulting to FSC certified Group Schemes and forestry companies and using this expertise to beef up technical compliance of CMO Group Schemes.
• The development of an online, worldwide trading portal for FSC certified forest products, named IcePik.

Michal said that the CMO team has been innovating and researching in this field for many years. He said the funding from E4E Africa presents a great opportunity to secure critical market access for sustainably produced forest products, and a means to introduce small forest producers to international markets.

“CMO has the full support of the FSC International Center GmbH in Bonn, as well as other key stakeholders including the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) and the Namibian Charcoal Association (NCA).”

The trading platform will be launched in Namibia and South Africa in the last quarter of this year, focussing initially on sales of FSC certified charcoal. Michal said that commodities traded across IcePik would expand to include a wide range of forest products derived from sustainably managed forests, including roundlogs, lumber, treated poles, chips for pulp as well as non-forest products.”

Charcoal produced on the Sidi farm in the Eastern Cape will be FSC certified, providing access to international markets at premium prices. Sidi is the second community managed invasive alien plant clearing operation in SA to be certified under the CMO Group Scheme. The cleared wattle provides the feedstock for the charcoal kilns, while also restoring degraded rangeland for community owned livestock.

According to Bas Hochstenbach, co-founder and partner at E4E Africa, the partnership hinges on the fact that CMO is a South African company with real intellectual property that is operating in a huge global industry. E4E Africa has taken a 10% stake in CMO.

Bas added that the group scheme certification methodology and trading platform create access to global markets for sustainable forestry products for parties like smallholder farmers and smaller processors – parties that traditionally had difficulty fulfilling the administrative requirements of FSC certification, disqualifying them to trade on the more lucrative markets where certification is required.

“CMO touches many aspects: significant environmental impact due to sustainable production processes and social impact through job creation, better worker conditions and a higher price for the small producer through direct access to international markets.

“CMO is a great example of the type of businesses that we seek to invest in: entrepreneurial teams leveraging technology to address real societal challenges at scale, combining a highly scalable business model with a high impact,” he said.

CMO has positioned itself to set up group certification schemes in 44 countries over the next five years, whilst selling the FSC certified products through IcePik across the globe. CMO’s FSC group scheme has certified around 35 forestry operations in South Africa, the majority of which are small-scale tree farmers operating on communal land.

Michal Brink of CMO busy with an FSC Group audit at Colona tribal authority near Matatiele in the Eastern Cape. It is a community managed operation that removes alien invader vegetation – mainly black wattle – and turns it into charcoal.

Demand for invasive tree wood boosts SA water security

Water is at the heart of the removal of invasive alien plant (IAP) species in water-scarce South Africa – and momentum is boosting a value-adding ‘green’ chain that is reducing IAPs, replenishing water tables by millions of litres per year, increasing demand for often beautiful and functional IAP wood, and creating jobs.

Henry Sebata, MD of Avocado Vision, parent company of Green Business Value Chain (GBVC), which is driving the value chain, says the process is directly aligned to World Water Day on 22 March, which celebrated water and raises awareness of the global water crisis, this year under the theme of ‘valuing water’.

GBVC was established four years ago to ensure sustainability of an IAP-focused value chain, working alongside the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) to restore water tables, dry rivers and grassland, while ensuring livelihoods, and developing markets for value-added IAP biomass products such as eco-friendly charcoal, furniture, decking, poles, fencing, pulp, and more.
The 5-step value chain process includes:
1.       Identifying and mapping IAP-infested locations
2.       Developing local and international markets
3.       Selecting and training local entrepreneurs to be efficient business owners
4.       Ensuring removal of IAPs and restoration of environment by SMMEs
5.       Identifying appropriate value-added products for the different IAPs to be converted into.

GBVC works with a wide range of local and international partners at every stage of the value chain, and is operational in areas in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and Limpopo. In the mid-Breede River Valley, a project is returning 7 million litres of water per hectare cleared per year to the river system and ensuring conversion of the biomass to products of value. In the Eastern Cape, a cohort of SMMEs has been trained by Avocado Vision to clear IAPs efficiently and manufacture eco charcoal, which is in production and finding markets in Europe and USA.

Another significant success story in the conversion of IAP biomass to something of value and beauty is Homewood, a South African furniture crafter owned and run by Ian Perry, who, working together with Avocado Vision, GBVC, DEFF and others, created the now fast-growing Amanzi Conscious Collection – exquisite eco furniture that offers creativity and functionality while restoring water tables and balance to sensitive environments.

15 March 2021 saw the launch of the newest addition to the collection – the Kotini range, created exclusively for and in collaboration with Mr Price Home in response to the retailer’s passion for building local business and for the environment. Perry says, “The Kotini range is so named because we use locally sourced, alien invasive cottonwood to handcraft the furniture. It’s environmentally focused and feelgood, supporting local job creation, local business, and our local ecosystem. Every hectare of IAP trees removed for this furniture results in 3-million litres of water returning to our precious waterways. If nothing else, that’s a great conversation starter around a beautiful cottonwood table.”

Homewood also designed and created Nando’s iLanga chair, made from 100% poplar and wattle, which come from USA and Australia. “Our entire Amanzi Conscious Collection furniture is founded on the vision of giving back to the earth and is working towards a solution to the devastation of our water table by IAPs,” says Perry.

Sebata adds, “We’re gaining ground and we’re making the most of all our learnings throughout our processes. We know that working with partners – relevant government departments, local SMMEs, environmental organisations and corporates – goes a long way to ensuring an efficient value chain; and we also know that training is key to the success of our projects at every stage. We have formed incubators of local SMMEs in different locations, helping them build basic business and financial acumen to ensure their businesses remain sustainable, and continue to create jobs.”

DEFF estimates that at least 10 million hectares in South Africa have been invaded by IAP species with an annual water use of around 3.3 million m3 each year (3.3 billion litres).

Sebata says GBVC and Avocado Vision are constantly seeking potential partners throughout the value chain, particularly with organisations that recognise the value of using products manufactured from IAPs. “The wood of many invasive species is beautiful, useable, and very valuable in terms of what it means to our water supply. We welcome opportunities to work with organisations that embrace the value of a greener – and wetter – future for our country.”

For more information, visit www.avovision.co.za