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Sorghum Beer: a Sustainable Brew

In Sierra Leone, a public-private partnership – which started as a corporate social responsibility initiative – has resulted in a sustainable business: brewing. Before 2005, the local subsidiary of Heineken in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Breweries Ltd (SLBL), used 100% imported malted barley from Europe. Sorghum was a minor subsistence crop and rarely available on the markets. Facing a rising cost of barley, Sierra Leone Brewery is now supporting local production of sorghum, and is buying the grain directly from farmers. Substituting the imported malted barley with more of the local sorghum is putting money in the pockets of both farmer and brewer.

Sorghum is used in brewing the beer that is consumed at many African weddings. But, until recently, it has not been the grain of choice for international breweries such as Heineken International, a Dutch company, and the third largest brewery in the world. In all the 170 beers that Heineken produces and sells for national and international markets, the key ingredient is malted barley. However, in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone, barley is now being supplemented by sorghum. Locally produced sorghum shortens the supply chain and diversifies the sourcing of raw materials, both beneficial to local farmers and SLBL. Reducing grain imports leads to savings of scarce foreign currency for Sierra Leone. More importantly however, hundreds of local smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone now have a cash income. This all hopefully leads to the creation of solid relationships and trust between all stakeholders in the new supply chain.

Sierra Leone’s sorghum farmers have been benefiting from the Heineken and EUCORD partnership. Already hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grain have been bought, and as farmers realize that the market for sorghum is secure, more and more are planting the crop. Profits are leading to investment, with one farmer group planning to buy a cleaning facility for their grain. At the end of the five-year project, the partners believe the sorghum supply chain in Sierra Leone will be sustainable. Indeed Cor Honkoop, General Manager of SLBL, reports that some of the farmer cooperatives are already self-sustaining and no longer require seeds on loan. Within the next two or three years, he expects most groups to be self-sufficient. In less than three years, the economic impact of the project has been impressive. Almost a quarter of Sierra Leone’s population is defined as food-poor, surviving on less than US$0.35 per day. For farmers involved in the project, receiving up to US$15 per 50kg bag of sorghum, has brought about significant improvements in their livelihoods. Because farmers spend most of this additional income, the payments have an even larger impact on local economies. A recent study showed that the average dollar paid to a small farmer changes hands five times a year.

Due to the success of substituting barley imports with locally grown crops, Heineken has adopted an Africa-wide strategy to procure at least 60 per cent of their raw materials from local sources. In 2010 Heineken received the World Business Development Award from the UNDP and the International Chamber of Commerce in New York for its groundbreaking sustainable local supply chain initiative in Sierra Leone. It has the advantage of a shorter supply chain, diversification of sources and hence reducing risk, the saving of scarce foreign currencies and the stimulation of the local economy.

Link to interview with John Mbonu, Sierra Leone Brewery.