Olam International : Supporting sustainable livelihoods

Many Russians raised in rural communities find it difficult to secure well paid employment opportunities in their hometowns and move away to cities to find work, sometimes miles away from their families and loved ones. That is why we create work and economic growth opportunities in the communities surrounding our farming locations and commit to paying our employees a fair average salary that is often more than twice the regulatory minimum wage for the region.

We do this in a number of ways. We support sustainable livelihoods by providing salaries that are 10-20% higher than the market average, which help us to compete with city roles as well as attract good talent. We help our employees to budget and cover living expenses by paying them fortnightly instead of monthly. We work with local authorities to build new homes for our staff, who will eventually become owners under the government housing scheme, as well as local amenities such as libraries, kindergartens and cafes. And we employ several generations of the same family, providing young people with rewarding work so they can stay in the community. Today, there families working at some of our farms, some stretching across three generations.

An unique example is our chief power engineer, Igor Zhukov, who was recently able to return to his hometown after finding a job with Rusmolco: 'After education I spent 15 years travelling across Russia looking for employment. I worked everywhere from Moscow to Kazan. It was a difficult time as I had to spend so much of my time away from my friends and family in Serdobsk, just to earn a decent income. With Rusmolco bringing a dairy farm to my hometown, I no longer have to travel hundreds of miles for a secure and well-paid job. I am so happy to finally have a good job in my native place, so I don't need to leave my family and loved ones anymore.'

Elena Belyakova, was also surprised to find herself back in Penza after many years of big city life post finishing her university education. After joining Rusmolco about 10 years back as a translator on a temporary contract, she soon fell in love with her Penza life: 'I now know how to milk cows, how to plant alfalfa crops and how to keep high levels of protein in the feeds. I never would have thought a career in agriculture was for me but now I have been working in Rusmolco for ten years. Thanks to the opportunities I have received, I go to work every day happily, because I know my role as Administrative and PR Manager is just one small but important part of a great machine that is Rusmolco and we contribute to one of the most noble tasks i.e. of producing healthy and nutritious food for our people .'