omnia holdings annual report 2010 omnia holdings annu

Challenges and opportunities Our response
The opportunity
Water quality is deteriorating in many areas of the developing world as
industrial production increases and salinity caused by farming and
over-extraction rises.
Agronomy and the interests of farmers in Africa
The challenge
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 900 million
people faced insufficient nutrition for life and work in 2008, most of
whom are living in Africa.
At the same time, the United Nations is predicting that agricultural
output will need to increase by 70% by 2050 to adequately feed the
expected global population of nine billion people.
OMNIA ANNUAL REPORT 2010 41
Protea Chemicals and Nalco, the world leader in water
treatment and process improvement based in Illinois, US,
have formed an associate, Nalco Africa, that will provide an
extensive range of water and process treatment services to
the African market.
Nalco Africa will provide products and services that include
treatments for the mining sector, refinery and petrochemicals
sector, pulp and paper industry, food and beverage market and
broader industrial and effluent treatment applications.
The Associate will also allow Omnia to assist its clients
reduce their environmental impact using Nalco’s industrial
water and process treatment technologies.
Moreover, water management changes have been
implemented at our plants, which will optimise our re-use of
water and decrease our municipal water use.
Zetachem, with its expertise in speciality chemicals and
chemical management systems, is able to assist companies
as well as the public sector with effective water treatment
solutions in the area of potable and industrial water.
In Sasolburg, we have developed a storm water management
plan and installed infrastructure to separate storm water
run-off from potentially contaminated and clean areas.
The capacity of the existing storm water effluent dams
in Sasolburg has also been increased at an estimated cost
of R8 million.
Omnia Fertilizer, through its proven Nutriology ® offering,
provides agronomic advice to customers regarding the
conservation and efficient utilisation of water on the farm.
The agriculture sector has taken on a new and more critical
role in today’s global economy in providing solutions to rising
concerns over food security for a growing world population,
as dietary habits change in developing economies and
declining arable land availability fails to meet escalating
demand. Demand for fertilizer continues to grow in response
to the need for increased yields as a result of increasing
urbanisation, reduction of available arable land worldwide,
and the likely development of biofuels in southern Africa.
In Africa, farmers only apply 10% of the global average
fertilizer per hectare. Omnia’s agronomic expertise is
extensive and supports optimal fertilization, while our
knowledge of the African agricultural environment enables us
to provide practical and sustainable solutions to issues around
food security.