Globally, the majority of the world’s poor share a common profession – farming. Of the approximately 1.2 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day, 75 per cent of them work in agriculture on small plots of land. Strong, direct relationships exist between agricultural productivity, hunger, poverty and sustainability – increasing productivity allows farmers to grow more food, leading to better diets and higher incomes.

One way we ‘Mine for Progress’ is by implementing social development programs supporting agriculture. While mining stimulates economic growth in the development and operational phases, development opportunities need to remain sustainable beyond mine closure. Successful agricultural programs can support better and more plentiful food for local people while the mine is operating, and after it closes.

Over the next 50 years food and feed crop demand is expected to double as the global population approaches nine billion, primarily in developing countries. To help address this, our social development programs seek to build sustainable community-run farming management systems and to improve agricultural practices. Our approach is closely aligned with key elements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is a global 15-year agenda for development, as well as the related commitments of national and provincial governments.

Through our programs we aim to deliver against the following Sustainable Development Goals:

• Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms, everywhere.
• Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.