During the year we conducted 97 HSE  assessments at our chemical suppliers: six in  EAME, five in North America, 25 in LATAM  and 61 in APAC. We recorded a further  improvement in suppliers’ average observed  HSE standard for the ninth consecutive year,  and extended the scope of our HSE support for  our most important suppliers to include process  risk assessment. The success of our business is reliant upon not  only providing technology to farmers, but also  helping them to use natural resources more  efficiently by applying technology safely and  responsibly. That is why we give absolute  priority to stewardship: the responsible and  ethical management of our solutions from  discovery and development to their use and  ultimate disposal. This begins with making safety a core  consideration in the development process.  It involves cooperating fully with governments,  regulators and NGOs to support transparent  and effective regulation. And it means educating  farmers – often in partnership with NGOs – to  use our products correctly. We teach the safe and efficient use and  disposal of our products to people worldwide:  2.9 million in 2011 alone, through 61 programs. Many of these programs extend far beyond  product safety. In Latin America, for example,  we have partnered with governments, NGOs  and labor associations to develop Pequeño  Agricultor de Syngenta (PAS) – a complete  course in sustainable intensification for  small farmers. So far, 360,000 have received  this training.  With local partners in Colombia, we are  reaching 1,400 families a year with a  Conservation Tillage Program that helps them  protect water and soil resources. Adoption  of this intensive program has now reached  30 percent and is rising fast. We are now  developing similar programs for hill farmers in  Vietnam and the Philippines. Trials there show  that no-till techniques can halve soil erosion  on farms that typically lose an annual average  of over 25 tons of soil per hectare. In Europe, we have taken a leadership role  in sustainable intensification by linking farms  into a best-practice demonstration and training  network. The farms are used as centers  of expertise to give local farmers the latest  information on a full range of responsible farming  practices such as the safe use of pesticides,  environmental stewardship and high-quality,  high-yielding production methods. Other  visitors, such as researchers, schoolchildren,  and policy makers, also learn first-hand how  farming creates value for the farmer, society  and the environment.  1.  Corn field with  protection zone (center)  and biodiversity strip,  Geispitzen, France.  2.  Training on how to  calibrate a boom sprayer  for best-practice  application, Geispitzen,  France. Syngenta  demonstration  farms Stewardship Suppliers Operations  continued Syngenta Annual Review 2011 38 1. 2.