Business as Mission (BAM) measures itself with four key indicators (KPIs). These are:
- Is the business continually moving toward profitability?
- Does the business create jobs?
- Does the business make Jesus known and make disciples?
- Is the business careful with creation?
These questions are on our mind constantly as we coach and consult with BAM businesses. One of those businesses is Kijani Forestry in Uganda. IBEC’s Bob and Gary have been key coaches for most of their six-year existence. Beau is one of the owners and he wrote me this month with this:
Bob and Gary have been an incredible help to our company. They have been consistently available, providing creative ideas, mentorship, and helping us stay on track. Their understanding of our mission beyond profitability has been invaluable.
Beau explains Kijani this way: “We started Kijani Forestry at the beginning of 2019 and have been growing and adapting ever since.” I stopped and thought for a minute – ‘grow’ and ‘adapt’– pretty profound! What did it all mean?
They started as a plantation model to solve a key problem in the country – loss of fuelwood because of mass deforestation. This model focused on growing a sustainable source of regenerative fuelwood that could be made into charcoal to address the energy needs.
Deforestation is a national issue in Uganda, where most people use firewood for cooking, trees are often cut to make charcoal for export and some forests fall to illegal logging. The country has lost 13% of its tree cover since 2000, according to Global Forest Watch (APnews.com, Jan 14, 2024).
In fact, “Uganda has lost 41.6% of its forest cover in the last 100 years (1921-2021). In 1900, Uganda’s forest cover stood at 54% and by 2017, it stood at a miserable 12.4%. 62.5% of Uganda’s forest land has been logged in the last 3 decades, and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be no forests outside of protected areas remaining.” (Illuminem.com, May 27, 2023)
Yes, that spells a problem, and Beau, Paul and Quinn set out to solve it with this value proposition: “Could we reverse the rampant deforestation in Uganda through a scalable, financially sustainable, and holistic business model?”
A 400-acre plantation is a good thing, but God and the team realized if they pivoted, they could accomplish much more. Thanks to a mentor Professor JJ Oiim, they learned how to pivot to a community model, which they have named the Nursery Hub Model.1 This allows Kijani to collaborate with existing groups of farmers to grow seedlings, plant trees and maintain them as they mature. So, their primary product has evolved from charcoal only to the added features of timber and carbon credits.2
Back to the Quadruple Bottom line:
- Although technically they are still pre-revenue, Kijani is growing and well on their way to profitability and sustainability.
- They provide jobs for 600 employees and work with over 30,000 farmers on a weekly basis.
- They treat their employees well and model excellence in all they do, integrating faith in all aspects of the work with spiritual fellowship and prayer with employees.
- Of course, they are addressing the deforestation problem as they establish nurseries all over the country and plant tens millions of trees.
1 Learn more about the Nursery Hub Model at: Kijaniforestry.com
2 Carbon credits are permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases (GHGs). One credit allows the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent of other greenhouse gases. However, Kijani creates credits through growing trees and then is able to sell them for a profit. The ultimate goal of the carbon credit system is to reduce the emission of GHGs into the atmosphere.
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com