Modern Slavery Statement
Our Legal Policies
Our Legal Policies
Farmsoc does not tolerate any form of modern slavery or human trafficking in our organisation or in our supply chain. This Statement is made pursuant to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, United Kingdom and has been approved by the Board of Farmsoc.
Last Update: Sept 12, 2022
Our Code of Conduct, which sets out the standards we expect of all staff, makes clear that we support universal human rights. This includes equal employment, freedom of speech, freedom of association, diverse cultural, economic and social well-being. We strongly oppose illegal and inhumane labour practices including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking.
This statement provides an overview of FARMSOC's policies and approach to slavery, servitude forced labour and human trafficking (together referred to as “Modern Day Slavery”) and is complementary to the Company's Code of Business Conduct policy. We realise that our business may be exposed to the potential risk of instances of modern slavery and human trafficking given the location and nature of its operations. FARMSOC takes a zero-tolerance approach to Modern Day Slavery and will work to continually assess the extent of this risk and to take steps to ensure that forced labour have no place in the business or its supply chain.
The Farmsoc is committed to tackling slavery through the risk assessment in our supply chain, due diligence on our suppliers, and awareness-raising activities within the Farmsoc. If you have any queries about this statement or our approach to modern slavery, please contact us via info@farmsoc.africa
Famsoc initiator approves this and signed on behalf of Farmsoc by Adewale Adegoroye, Farmsoc Founder/President.
Farmsoc is a social enterprise entity that operates several medium-scale farms across Nigeria in response to the nation's need to increase access to fresh & healthy food. Our members put money together for the daily operation of the farms.
We aim to be transparent, professional, democratic, inclusive, passionate, collaborative, innovative, inspiring, fun, pragmatic, promote equality and demonstrate leadership. We also take inspiration from the three ethics of permaculture: care for people, care for the planet and fair shares. Click here to learn more
FARMSOC is governed by its Board which guides and approves the Company's strategy and key policies, reviews financial and management performance. Our Board is committed to ensuring that the principles of good governance and Code of Business Conduct are applied in all our Company's dealings.
FARMSOC is committed to respecting and protecting human rights wherever we conduct business. FARMSOC's Code of Business Conduct prohibits the following practices and will not knowingly do business with any individual or company that participates in exploitation of children, including child labour; physical punishment; violence towards employees, specifically when based on gender, origin, religion or sexual orientation; forced or compulsory labour; unlawful discrimination in employment and hiring practices; provision of unsafe working conditions; salary payments (or deductions) that illegally leave the worker below minimum wage; and illegal overtime regulations.
We understand that in our line of business and operations, we establish and interact with suppliers, vendors, agents and third parties who provide us one form of service or the other. These “third parties” may not be subject to any regulation unlike us. It is therefore our duty that we put a mechanism in place to ensure that “third parties” we engage or engaged by FARMSOC, comply with the relevant laws and guidelines applicable to FARMSOC.
Slavery: Exercising powers of ownership over a person
Servitude: The obligation to provide services is imposed using coercion or force
Forced or compulsory labour: Work or services are exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered themselves voluntarily
Human trafficking: Arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to their exploitation
The Farmsoc takes its commitments to preventing modern slavery and protecting human rights very seriously, and has responsibility for producing this statement. The Legal and Compliance, Internal Audit, HR, Procurement and Communications teams, and the Senior Management Group have a particular responsibility for ensuring the Farmsoc and its staff meet these standards. They also ensure our workers are protected, and that risks are identified and appropriately mitigated. All staff throughout our organisation and community at large have responsibility for adhering to the standards set out in this statement.
The principal areas of risk we face, related to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, include:
We will manage these risk areas through our procedures set out in this policy.
There is no typical victim and some victims do not understand they have been exploited and are entitled to help and support. However, the following key signs could indicate that someone may be a slavery or trafficking victim:
We believe it is important to ensure our staff understand the issues of modern slavery and our commitments, as a business, to upholding high ethical standards. Our key personnel regularly attends external events to broaden their knowledge and understanding of modern slavery and use this to raise awareness among key teams across the business.
We understand that modern slavery is not a static issue and therefore we are committed to continuing our efforts to raise awareness of the impact on slavery across the globe. We hold annual internal events to coincide with Anti-Slavery Day to raise awareness among staff, as well as rolling out additional workshops and training, both online and face-to-face. This reinforces our continued commitment to act ethically and to meet our obligations to prevent modern slavery.
All FARMSOC staff undertake an annual Code Certification process following an online training. We also obtain disclosure from staff about their compliance with the Code and its accompanying standards, procedures, and guidelines.
Our goal is not only to ensure the maintenance of our compliance with laws and regulations but also to ensure compliance by our “third parties”. We understand that this is one of the most effective ways of ensuring continuity of business and maintaining integrity of purpose. We have developed the speak-up guidelines with the aim of providing various channels to employees and stakeholders to raise concerns about suspected or actual breaches of our policies and values, as well as other unethical activities and violations of laws and regulations. Our reassurance is that all reports are treated with utmost confidentiality so that such issue or violation is addressed and effectively resolved. We also require all suppliers of goods and services to comply with our Contracting and Procurement principles and ensure compliance by their own suppliers in turn; take special care to comply with standards and procedures in the field of human rights, especially with regard to working conditions for their employees and those of their suppliers and agree to be audited to assess their compliance with these principles for purposes of continuous improvement.
FARMSOC will continue to monitor and manage the risk of servitude to the business and will continue to raise awareness of the issue among staff, suppliers, contractors, partners, and others across all our operations. Any reports of instances of Modern Slavery will be investigated, and appropriate remedial action will be taken. We will review our Anti-slavery policy regularly, at least annually. We will provide information and/or training on any changes we make.