Established in 2010, Miro Forestry & Timber Products provides plywood, edge glued panels, CCA treated poles and other related forest products across West Africa and around the world. With headquarters in the UK, Miro supplies high quality products manufactured from the company’s sustainable, FSC-certified timber, with the diverse range being sold to customers such as merchants, construction companies and formwork specialists, as well as to bulk importers. Significantly, though, all products are made in Miro’s own factories which are located adjacent to its well managed plantations.
However, this highly ethical business is doing far more than simply grow and process trees – for Miro has the declared ambition to help shape a world that is a better place for women to thrive by providing them with work and training around the 20,000 hectares of forest plantations, which it owns and operates. It is the largest forestry group in West Africa by a significant margin, employing over 3,000 people across rural communities, while it nurtures in excess of 20 million trees on degraded land in Ghana and Sierra Leone.
This is a key strategy in Miro’s commitment to meeting the ‘2X challenge’, the global standard for “assessing and structuring investments that provide women with leadership opportunities, quality employment, finance, enterprise support which will enhance economic participation and access”. The training recommendations in the gender action were closely scrutinised – the result being that Miro’s female workforce successfully increased from 20% in 2022 to 23% in 2023, featuring a steady rise in women being promoted and recruited to more senior levels. Miro always recruits locally in preference to nationally, with only 2% of permanent employees being expatriates.
Access to medical cover is also provided through partnerships with medical service providers, while maternity and compassionate leave is available for all employees. Health and safety issues are considered too, with all employees and contractors supplied with PPE. Protective clothing’s use is also strictly enforced: if you turn up to work without it you don’t start the shift.
Meanwhile, according to the Integrated African Health Observatory, gender inequality, poverty among women, weak economic capacity, sexual and gender-based violence (including female genital mutilation or FGM) are major impediments to the amelioration of women’s health across the continent. Accordingly, the African proverb “When you educate a girl, you educate a nation” is where companies like Miro have an important role to play when improving women’s lot in life – with the wood industry pioneer able to demonstrate it is walking-the-walk, as these uplifting stories from some of its employees reveal:
Joyce Amo Yeboah, a General Worker at Miro’s nursery, explained, “I work on plant cuttings, seed nursing, seedling watering, compound and washroom tidying and any other general task. I am a single mother with four children and love to watch movies at my leisure. The good relationship I have with my colleagues makes it enjoyable to come to work every day. Due to the consistency and competence, I have worked a decade at Miro and I can’t point out any significant challenge with the job.”
Lydia Ntiamoah, a Production and Dispatch Coordinator, commented, “I have a BSc. In Business Administration (Human Resources Management). I like working at Miro because it allow employees to grow. In my job, I get the opportunity to learn something different; it is a new experience and I get to explore. My goal in Miro is to be part of its story in the years to come and I think Miro is successful because of its ‘all-involvement’ attitude.”
Emphasising the opportunities for progression available to women, Ernestina Osei-Peprah, Group Compliance Manager, added: “I have a BSc. in Natural Resources Management and an MSc. in Environmental Science. I like working at Miro because of its continuous growth since I joined in 2015, as well as the numerous opportunities the company offers to its employees for career development.”
It can be seen then that empowering women gives the opportunity to have more control over their lives, to enjoy economic independence – and eventually reverse horrifying statistics compiled by the World Health Organization:
- In 2019, women’s life expectancy at birth was only 62.37 years in the WHO African Region (globally, women can expect to live about 75.87 years in 2019).
- In the region, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.
- In 2021, the number of women aged 15 and above living with HIV accounted for 64.1% of the total population infected.
- Girls are far more likely than boys to suffer sexual abuse.
Globally, when governments and commercial organisations like Miro invest in girls’ education, their lifetime earnings rise dramatically, national growth rates increase, child mortality rates and marriage at a young age decrease while maternal mortality rates reduce, as does child stunting. According to UNESCO estimates, around the world, 129 million girls are not in school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age.
It is therefore hugely encouraging and heart-warming to read on Miro’s website that it has completed construction of the United Methodist Church Primary School in Sierra Leone, which was officially handed over to the local community in June this year (2024).
UMC Primary School currently educates 290 pupils from 10 settlements within a 10km radius and helps develop the children’s basic literacy and numeracy skills. Thanks to Miro, UMC Primary School Masethleh now has six classrooms and an office for the school headmaster. Such facilities will help deliver ‘6334 education’ adopted by Sierra Leone in 1996. It divides the country’s schooling into four stages:
- Six years in primary school with an age bracket of 6 – 12
- Three years of junior Secondary school with an age bracket of 12-14
- Three years of senior secondary school with an age bracket of 14-17
- Four years of tertiary education with an age bracket of 17-21
Country Manager for Miro, George Catterick commented that education and associated facilities to promote primary, secondary and tertiary education are vital for the future prosperity of all communities in the area surrounding the company’s operations, as well as for the nation as a whole. He said: “As our business and field operations expand the need for educated persons who have grown up in this forest and forest industry environment will be vital to fill technical, administrative and financial positions in the future.”
Miro’s community development strategy, then, includes education, access to clean water and alternative livelihood programs. Its mission is to help communities – and women especially – to help themselves though the economic independence that working for the company brings, providing local employment, achieving this through investment in community projects in partnership with NGOs and other organisations.
Michelle Buckland, MIRO’s Chief Commercial Officer, concluded: “Our mission is to be Africa’s leading forestry company based on shareholder value, sustainability standards, environmental and social development benefits. In essence, we develop and operate our plantations to Forestry Stewardship CouncilTM (FSC™) standards whilst providing environmental, social and economic benefit to local communities.”
For further information, email info@miroforestry.com or go to the website https://www.miroforestry.com/
