Kenya - DōTERRA's Co-Impact Sourcing Trip March 2023 - Gideon's Farm
I was lucky enough to get a place on the European service visit to Kenya to see dōTERRA’s Co-Impact Sourcing methods first hand, meet local farmers and their families and experience first hand how our essential oils grow from the seedling and create the best essential oils in the world.
DōTERRA sources over 140 essential oils from 45 different countries over half of which could be considered developing countries, but it follows the Co-Impact Sourcing principles in all sourcing areas.
doTERRA created the Co-Impact Sourcing® Initiative and the following 8 principles to ensure responsible practices in all our sourcing communities:
Generating Jobs: Reduce poverty by creating and sustaining jobs
Providing Fair, On-Time Payments: Offer consistent, fair payments to producers, including prepayments
Building Supplier Capacity: Support farmers, producers, and distillers through training and financial support
Sustaining Long-Term Partnerships: Provide multi-year contracts with growers and distillers based on solidarity and respect
Ensuring Fair Labor Conditions: Create healthy and safe working environments, free from harassment and discrimination
Promoting Cooperatives: Guarantee respect the right for all employees and producers to join and form co-operatives
Furthering Environmental Stewardship: Promote energy efficient technologies, renewable energy, and waste minimization
Facilitating Community Development: Support community development projects in sourcing communities such as schools, health clinics, training facilities, and clean water systems
I had read about these principles on paper and knew that dōTERRA was a company with the highest ethical standards but actually seeing the whole process first hand was a fabulous experience which really re-enforced my conviction that my choice of essential oil company was the right and the ONLY one. We visited two small farms in two areas of Kenya, the Lunga Lunga region and Mount Kenya near Nanyuki. When we arrived at the small farm belonging to Gideon and his family in the Lunga Lunga region we were welcomed with open arms and much music and dancing before Gideon gave us a tour of his farm and explained his situation. Whereas he had once grown potatoes and scraped a living, after switching to lemon eucalyptus and rosemary he was now able to better support his family and send his children to school. The field operators had taught him how to plant and look after his crops and he could pass this knowledge on to other famers. The final harvest is then collected and transported to the local distillery where is is distilled with care, transported to Nairobi for quality testing and then by cargo ship to the US or Ireland for further tests and bottling. We worked hard on the fields that day distributing mulch, organic bio mass leftover from the distillation process, around the base of the trees to harness moisture. We also helped lay an irrigation system and plant rosemary seedlings for the next crop.
Although I had been concerned that we might just be there for a dance and a photo shoot, it was great to work hard and actually contribute to Gideon’s farm. We saved him 2 weeks of hard work.
It was truly an honour to be welcomed so warmly by Gideon and his family - he invited us to visit again, for longer, and promised to roast a goat! It was also wonderful to realise that people profit on both sides of the bottle. Small Kenyan farmers can earn a decent living and be paid on time, plus diversify with no finial risk, and we, the end customer, can support our friends and families health and wellbeing with the best essential oils.