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DHG - Vertriebs- und Consulting GmbH is a distribution company for potting soils, bark products, wood fuels, and charcoal products in Kempen, Germany. DHG purchases charcoal from several countries. The most important procurement country for DHG charcoal is Namibia.
DHG wants to ensure and further develop the responsible sourcing of its international charcoal supplies with the support of Earthworm Foundation. Earthworm will assess DHG’s main charcoal suppliers through the Charcoal Control System (CCS). Earthworm will deploy the CCS methodology with its four responsibility criteria: Sustainable management of forests and the environment, controlled production and distribution processes, respect for human rights, health and safety and transparency of the charcoal supply chains.
Hence, Earthworm will engage with all DHG suppliers to support them on their continuous improvement journey towards responsible charcoal. In Namibia, DHG sources charcoal from processors and local farmers. Our mutual aim is to improve workers' and farmers’ resilience by sustainably transforming DHG supply chains along Earthworm’s four criteria of responsible charcoal.
In October 2018, EF and DHG started their work with an initial field visit to Namibia. A great share of DHG’s Namibian suppliers (farmers and processors) were visited and assessed. The assessment followed Earthworm’s CCS methodology.
After the first successful field visit, DHG and EF extended their partnership and DHG became a member of Earthworm’s www.charcoal-transparency.org platform launched in June 2019.
In November 2019, a second field visit to DHG’s Namibian suppliers (farmers and processors) was conducted. DHG’s suppliers were evaluated under Earthworm's CCS methodology, the results can be found on www.charcoal-transparency.org. During the field visit, DHG and Earthworm decided to extend their collaboration towards an Earthworm membership.
In 2020, EF and DHG signed the Earthworm membership agreement. Being an Earthworm member on charcoal means that DHG is engaged to implement EF’s V-T-T-V model and to deploy the Charcoal Control System on all its charcoal supplies.
In November 2020, EF conducted a third field visit to DHG’s Namibian charcoal suppliers, followed up on previous visits and implemented a supply chain diagnostic tool to monitor charcoal production practices within DHG Namibian charcoal value chain.
Today, Earthworm has assessed over 85% of DHG’s Namibian charcoal supplies. DHG and Earthworm have jointly implemented suppliers' action plans for further continuous improvement.
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