Japan

Initiative for Employment of the Handicapped

Nippon Paint Industrial Coatings has promoted employment of the handicapped and the aged in the local area since it signed a contract with a farm in Saitama City in 2019.

The company named its own area in the greenhouse "Nippe Fun Farm," and as of December 2021, it employs 6 handicapped people and 2 aged people.

Vegetables our employees raised with all their heart were donated through the Shinagawa City Council of Social Welfare  to children's cafeterias used by local children and a food pantry.  This is a sustainable activity that contributes to food education and coexistence with the local community.

So far, 30 kinds of vegetables, such as sunny lettuce, garland chrysanthemum, sugar snap, and shallot, have been cultivated on this farm. Vegetables that are rarely seen at local supermarkets are said to be very popular at the children's cafeterias and are held in affection with local children as Nippe vegetables.

Employees working at the farm commented with joy, saying, "I enjoy working at a cooperative workplace atmosphere" and "I am happy to contribute to society."

Employees of the farm

Employees of the farm

Vegetables in the farm

Photo of children's cafeterias (provided by the "Shinagawa City Council of Social Welfare, Shinagawa Volunteer Center, Shinagawa Children's Cafeteria Network Secretariat")

Vegetables donated to the children's cafeterias

Edible chrysanthemum grown on the farm

India

n'Shakti

Vocational training is being offered to aspiring painters in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to empower women in rural areas. Launched in 2018, the program, which has logged about 20,000 hours to date, has trained 450 women in their teens to their 30s, connecting them with paint retailers, contractors and architects and helping them find employment. This initiative will not only help women in developing their careers, it will also provide them with livelihoods outside of agriculture, bring vitality to communities and develop a new market of potential customers for our Group.

Some of the women who have completed the program have launched their own paint service companies, found stable employment in the construction industry, and are active in a number of other industries. A graduate of the program, who would like to run a paint store in the future, remarked on the life-changing experience and how it allowed her build up a network of business connections.