Partnering with YES is about more than just youth job creation and gaining levels on your B-BBEE scorecard. Although both are key for South Africa’s transformative growth, YES and its partners are constantly looking for new ways to create sustainable change and impact beyond jobs and beyond B-BBEE. At YES, we put youth at the forefront and work towards creating an impact through opportunities created with our trusted partners.
Nestlé believes in creating shared value for communities and the wider country. Creating shared value means addressing societal needs while sustainably meeting shareholders’ expectations. Nestlé has focused on societal needs such as unemployment and community development.
Together with YES, their vision for the upliftment of communities through the shared value framework has expanded and yielded impressive results for the community. Nestlé’s vision of creating an approach of shared value is seen through the work done within the community and through empowering African livelihoods.
Home to Nestlé’s largest black-owned dairy supplier in South Africa, Makhoba Farm which is owned by Mzabane Makhoba Trust, spans over 10,000 hectares and is home to 1,400 families residing in Swartberg, KwaZulu-Natal. These families share the benefits of the farm. Makhoba Farm is one of Nestlé’s suppliers, and hosts youth for the multinational company.
Nestlé’s journey with YES began in 2018 with the assistance of Inyosi Empowerment. Inyosi Empowerment is Nestlé’s enterprise and supplier development partner since 2017. This was the birth of a successful partnership between Nestlé, Inyosi Empowerment, Makhoba Farm, and YES and the beginning of Nestlé’s YES programme, called the Makhoba Project. This project has seen 300 youth (50% of whom are women) receive training and quality work experiences designed and implemented by Inyosi Empowerment that Nestlé has run with the Makhoba Project. 100 more youth, who will gain skills and valuable experience, are set to be included in the fourth Makhoba Project.
The programme has become a beacon of hope for the Makhoba Farm and community at large. Youth get vocational training and to work in their hometown, in roles that uplift their community, while also spending and investing their money back into their local economy. This is what a sustainable community development project looks like. Through collaboration with YES, the community, and its suppliers, Nestlé and Inyosi Empowerment have been able to foster growth within the community, cultivate more sustainable agricultural practices, and improve the lives of the YES Youth and their families.
The agricultural functions and operations of the farm include Springfontein Dairy Trust, which is Nestlé’s largest milk supplier. This partnership began in 2008 and has continued to show impressive growth over the years. In 2008, Springfontein Dairy had 12 employees which has grown to 33 to date. Driving sustainability and improving efficiencies both at Springfonetein Dairy and within the community has been a priority to the partnership and its growth.
”The Makhoba Project has continued to deliver proof points of how enabling and empowering communities creates inclusive success in the short and long term. Connecting our various commitments across our business has been at the heart of the implementation of this community development ecosystem. And, doing all these in a sustainable manner ensures that not only do we do right by the planet today, but we do so for generations to come,” said Saint-Francis Tohlang, corporate communications and public affairs director at Nestlé ESAR.
The exponential business growth of the Springfontein Dairy has had a positive ripple effect on the progress of Makhoba Farm and other agricultural projects that have been established, as well as benefitted the larger community and its inhabitants. Springfontein Dairy is also becoming a leader in regenerative farming, and the YES Youth working in this organisation are getting first-hand exposure to this exciting, future-facing sub-sector.
Leader of the Makhoba community, Chief Ambrose Makhoba, speaks highly of the consistent impact that the project has had in the community:
“Our community and farm have benefited greatly from this partnership with Nestlé. Everything in this partnership is connected, from the youth skills development to the dairy farm and the sustainability practices. Through the YES Programme, our youth have been trained and we have seen the impact in their lives. The kind of work we continue to achieve through this partnership is helping to preserve the legacy of our land for our beneficiary families and our country,” says Makhoba.
Thirty-five YES Alumni were permanently absorbed after their respective YES programmes, while others have found jobs in the Swartberg community due to their enhanced skills and training. A select number of YES Youth are being mentored and coached under the tutelage of the current general manager of the Springfontein Dairy, as part of its succession planning.
This partnership has created jobs that range from milkers to farm managers and has allowed youth to dream beyond their surroundings. Many see themselves as owners of their own businesses one day all thanks to this opportunity, the skills they learn, and valuable experiences that they are gaining.
The total impact created by Nestlé exceeds the 300 jobs created through the Makhoba Project. Over four YES programmes already run by Nestlé, more than 900 youth have been through quality work experiences through the company’s various supply chain host partners, chosen by Inyosi Empowerment.
YES has designed multiple models and packages that bring convenience to all its clients and partners. YES’s flexibility has created empowering partnerships that have delivered close to 82,500 work experiences for youth in just over three years, with no government funding.
Our vision is to transform companies, communities and youth lives by connecting unemployed young people to economic opportunities and dignity and together, building a future that works.
The importance of ESG (environmental, sustainable and governance) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has increased as customers and shareholders prioritise the well-being of people, planet, and communities affected an organisation’s operations.
The YES turnkey solution works with 33 YES-vetted host partners across South Africa to place youth. If a corporate cannot place youth in their own organisation, they have the option to place youth with our host partners. The host partners are generally NPOs working in high-impact sectors communities, which means youth do not have to travel far for work and they can play an important part in building their own communities.
The turnkey solution is a true one-stop solution for organisations looking to make all of the impact with none of the admin. Host partners are not only responsible for recruiting, screening, hosting, and supervising the youth, as well as facilitating absorption on behalf of the corporate.
Creating youth jobs in sectors that build economic, social and environmental stability in communities (through the turnkey solution) is an effective way to systemically and holistically reach your ESG goals, and uplift and empower communities beyond mining.
YES helps provide holistic solutions beyond B-BBEE that change youth lives and communities at large.
Over 2,200 businesses have already signed up and together, we’ve created over 82,500 work experiences for South African youth. This translates to over R4.6 billion being injected into the economy through YES Youth salaries alone.