Nr. 96 - August 2010
Insight
SEKEM‘s Journal for Economy, Culture, and Society in Egypt
Editorial Dear Readers,
with the growth of that part of SEKEM‘s production that is not sold in Egypt alone but in many countries public interest in SEKEM‘s work has been growing. The cultural and social initiatives of the SEKEM Development Foundation are also steadily increasing their reach. It is for these reasons that Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish and other SEKEM staff are frequently asked to represent their activities at international events. Helmy and Ibrahim Abouleish will be presenting SEKEM in September at the 30th anniversary conference of the “Alternative Nobel Prize” in Bonn at various public events. Helmy Abouleish will then participate in the “One World Award” at the “Rapunzel Festival“ where he is among the 5 finalists. This issue will introduce you to the Bonn week of events in which SEKEM will be participating. But it is not only the “SEKEM message” that is being heard internationally. It is also its products that are in greater demand today than ever before. This is also reflected in SEKEM’s annual participation in GulfFood, the Arabic key fair for food. Learn more about SEKEM’s efforts to raise awareness about organic products at this and other events on page 4.
Your Team of Editors
Sustainability
Events
New Products
Responsible Business in SEKEM
“Alternative Nobel Prize” in Bonn
New Jams Help Protect the Environment
Doing Business Responsibly at SEKEM SEKEM’s new sustainability report puts into more concrete terms what responsible business at SEKEM really means.
Man and the economy: at SEKEM both shall come together in harmony. This is symbolised by the “staff circles” that are held every morning before the start of the day and at the end of the week (picture).
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ogether with the social, ecological, and cultural dimension economic life forms one of the crucial pillars of the new sustainability report by SEKEM that was just recently released. While all four dimensions play their essential roles within any societal framework the economic aspects naturally are of special importance in the process of attaining SEKEM’s economic goals, the material basis for many of its cultural and social activities. The challenge of the new report is
to demonstrate that and how sustainable business enters into a harmonious whole with the other aspects that nevertheless define what the SEKEM initiative was and continues to be. Harmonious Interplay Sustainability is no state but a permanent process of development. The recently published report presents a snapshot of the daily work of all SEKEM firms and thus is also a snapshot of SEKEM Insight | August 2010 | Page 1
Economy
the state of the progress of SEKEM as a whole on the way to a fully sustainable business practice. This presents the authors from the “sustainability team” with the challenge of visualising this process in figure, word, and image. From the vision to the firms, the projects, and the institutions of the SEKEM initiative the new report examines and evaluates selected aspects of SEKEM’s business using the new descriptive model of the “Sustainability Flower”. Indicators that make progress measurable and target strategic goals that motivate staff form its foundation and are presented in the form of an explanatory narrative. Sustainability in Agriculture An overarching goal of the work of SEKEM is the establishment of biodynamic agriculture as an alternative to conventional agriculture as it conserves natural resources and provides competitive means to participate in the creation of a globalization with a human face that adequately addresses the social and ecological challenges of the 21. century. The establishment and maintenance of a global and cooperative value chain with fair trade agreements is a basis for the success of SEKEM and its transition to a comprehensively sustainable business model. After years of two-digit growth SEKEM’s turnover stagnated in 2009. Caused by the global financial and economic crisis the export demand for organically produced textiles and fresh products declined. Still SEKEM’s firms experienced strong growth on the Egyptian markets for phytopharmaceuticals and foodstuffs regarding both turnover and market share. In the near future SEKEM’s businesses expect renewed demand on the international and specifically the Egyptian markets for organic products. To prepare for this development they have already begun to invest in the cultivation of agricultural surfaces in three different locations. This is achieved by the gradual conversion
State and Development: a static and progressive value corresponds to each indicator of economic life according to a simple system of “traffic lights”.
of arid desert grounds into arable land using, among others, SEKEM’s renowned composting process. Sustainability and Quality The trust that is placed by customers and partners in SEKEM’s business practice, its products, and its internal trade activities rests to a large extent on the organic and standards-compliant quality of its production processes and products. Thus the protection of this quality is also of exceptional importance for SEKEM’s sustained future success. To maintain its high quality SEKEM not only works on the basis of a total of 14 international quality standards that monitor process- and product-oriented aspects of quality such as demeter or transfair. Moreover controls by each of SEKEM’s firms plus support from the EBDA, the “Egyptian Biodynamic Association” that assists its members in meeting the required standards, helps ensure the greatest possible level of security. Sustainability and Governance Against the background of rising prices for water, oil, and artificial fertiliser, the increasing scarcity of non-renewable resources, and consistently changing legislative frameworks the global impact and relevance of SEKEM’s innovative agriculture and trade principles are changing, too. For instance, the conviction to contribute to a globalization with a human face through wholesome and responsible economic practice is of significant business-administrative importance. SEKEM is not supposed to be more competitive in spite of, but because its specific model of economic practice.
Much indicates that this route has so far been a success. For instance the principle that the perpetrator should be held responsible for pollution created even through regular business (“negative externalities”) is slowly being adopted on a larger scale. It follows that many of the costs of producing consumer goods today still born by society will through better legislation have to be born by the enterprises incurring them. This will over time make the production of “dirty” products more expensive and this, in turn, will make SEKEM’s business model of using resources more efficiently and protecting the health of arable soils more attractive and less costly. However, SEKEM can only achieve so much when it comes to politics and the legislation. Many goals do not lie within its direct area of influence. This is why, for instance, a fullfledged deposit system for re-usable glass bottles is at the moment impossible to implement due to a lack in necessary infrastructure. A cooperation of SEKEM with several larger customers is foreseen to improve the situation. Thus the goal of a “100% return rate” on recycled bottles is thus marked as still to be achieved in this year’s report. Nevertheless SEKEM through its long tradition of organic production today possesses an exceptional and environmentally friendly product portfolio. SEKEM’s annual report will stay to be the most important tool of examination of progress on the way to a fullscale sustainable business practice. Olaf Weber, Maximilian Boes The authors are working on the sustainability team at SEKEM and have supervised the production of this year’s report on sustainable development.
SEKEM Insight | August 2010 | Page 2
Economy
Exceptional Fruits of the Sun The beloved SEKEM fruit spreads are made from traditional local varieties thus helping protect nature and bring diversification to the breakfast table.
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ince a little over a year SEKEM has been offering four different varieties of fruit spreads under the name „Sonnenfrucht“ (“Sun Fruit”) in Europe: bitter oranges, mango, guava and date. Additionally the varieties fig, apricot, and strawberry are being sold in Egypt under the brand name “ISIS” to great acclaim. The hardest part of the work of preparing these delicacies is actually being done these days. The harvesting season for the fresh fruits has just begun and they have to be collected from countless demeter-farms scattered all over the country, then sorted, and then processed in order to have them available for continuous production throughout the entire year.
All spreads are made from old varieties of Egyptian fruit that guarantee a special and remarkably intense flavour. Product development at ISIS was made easier due to the long-standing cooperation with the demeter farmers. This was important as a mango tree cannot be easily planted on short notice, obviously, if additional fruits are needed. It thus paid off that ISIS always enters into long-term contracts with its suppliers thus ensuring adequate supply across the year. The tall mango trees are being cultivated on many farms as they pro-
SEKEM Supports World Day for Environmental Protection with WESC Initiative
vide for valuable shade for other crops such as beans. The bitter orange, also known as “Pomeranze” in Germanspeaking countries, is a typical, wellknown fruit tree scattered all over the Egyptian countryside. For many years it has provided much-needed service on the SEKEM farm, too, as hedge between the fields and as protection from the strong desert winds for crops and medicinal plants specifically. Thus the biological diversity in plant varieties - a typical characteristic of biodynamic farming - again turned out to be an advantage for SEKEM.
The SEKEM initiative supported the world day for environmental protection of the United Nations this summer through a partnership with WESC, the “Wadi Centre for Environmental Education”. The cooperation bore the title “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.” The United Nations have launched “World Environment Day” (WED) to stimulate awareness of the dangers to our environment, garner political attention, and encourage public action. Around 5.000 people took place this year in the events held at Cairo’s Al Azhar park.
Because of the brief harvesting time all fruit are being sorted, cleaned, and peeled inside ISIS’ own production facilities centrally located close to the SEKEM farm. One part is then deepfrozen while the rest is processed into mash and remains available for the production of the new delicious spreads later in the year.
The day’s goals were to give a human face to environmental concerns, empower people to become active agents of sustainable growth, promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environment, and advocate partnership, which shall help all mankind to enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
Using demeter-certified sugar, pectin as a gelling agent, and lime juice the fruits are then processed into a “kind of jam”. This is where their true value lies. At 65% their fruit content is so high that according to European law they may neither be called a jam nor a marmalade and cannot be marketed as such. Both jam and marmalade contain substantially more sugar than SEKEM’s new spreads.
This year’s events focused on the crucial importance of biodiversity for the protection of the earth’s manifold ecosystems. Organisers had invited participants to discuss how modern societies can benefit from protecting the environment and the diversity of biological life.
So, this is also what their name “sun fruit” intends to express: made from only the highest quality fruits, ripened under the Egyptian sun. SEKEM “Sun Fruit” spreads are available in Germany in select organic food stores.
WESC is an Egyptian non-governmental organization (NGO) focusing on practical, field-based learning of the exact sciences. It aims to bring education to life by making learning relevant and fun. WESC and SEKEM have also maintained a branch training centre in the town of Bilbeis since 2004.
Christina Boecker
Samaa Shehab
You can visit SEKEM yourself: www.SEKEM-reisen.de
CLICK HERE for current news on SEKEM on Twitter.
SEKEM Insight | August 2010 | Page 3
Economy
SEKEM‘s Dates: Beloved in Many Countries SEKEM‘s organic dates are not only cherished in Egypt. Thanks to the marketing team of ISIS they have become available in many countries. is obviously not linked to Ramadan. But our SEKEM dates can also be found in organic food stores in Germany, Italy, Austria, Luxemburg, France, and Spain. Hopefully we will also begin offering them in Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland soon. I imagine that the quantities you are selling must vary by large degrees in these markets? Yes, the largest orders this year came from Turkey. The customer in question actually ordered 60 tons of dates - packed in 250 gr packages! That order did keep us busy for some time. What are your plans for future exports? What are the most prospective new markets? Cherished everywhere: SEKEM‘s dates are beloved in many countries. They have also recently become available in Turkey where the are being sold in stores of the Metro chain of supermarkets.
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ates are a very tasty and healthy snack that is especially popular during in Muslim communities and countries during the fasting month of Ramadan. Traditionally Muslims break the day-long fasting by beginning their first meal with a dried date. Legend has it that this custom had already been a habit of the Holy Prophet Mohamed who supposedly valued dates as an important part of his diet. Many Muslims all over the world have adopted his habit. As the beginning of Ramadan is a moving date it started early this year on 11 August. SEKEM Insight used the opportunity to talk to ISIS’ export manager, Dr. Iman Dawood, about the process of selling organic dates to customers all over the world.
Dr. Iman, do you see the sales of dates rise during the month of Ramadan?
Yes, but in fact mainly before the month of fasting actually begins. This is because our export customers tend to order early to make sure they can offer dates even before the fasting days. However I do know from my colleagues from the local market sales that they do handle increasing volumes these days even during Ramadan. To which countries do you export ISIS’ organic dates? Besides some Arab countries we mostly export to Turkey, Japan, and Australia. For a long time we have also been exporting to Germany, namely to our partner the “Ulrich Walter GmbH”, better known as the “Lebensbaum” brand in Germany. However most of these dates go into further processing for the production of organic food. Their sale
I receive inquiries from the USA, Canada, and even the Far East. I believe there are very promising markets here both with regard to Ramadan or holidays such as Christmas. A personal question: what does Ramadan mean to you personally? Do you also enjoy dates after fasting? Work is not diminishing for me during Ramadan. But me and my team do start and finish earlier. These days meeting the family and friends is key; during Ramadan I meet people I have not had the chance to meet during the rest of the year simply because breaking the fasting is at the same time a great opportunity to gather and eat. It’s like Christmas - but for a whole month! And, yes, I do enjoy starting my dinner with a date - one from SEKEM, if possible, of course. The questions were asked by Christina Boecker
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Culture
SEKEM Participates in Public Events at „Alternative Nobel Prize“ Anniversary Conference Almost 80 laureates of the „Right Livelihood Award“ will be looking for answers to mankind’s most pressing challenges in Bonn. SEKEM will join them. From 14th-19th September 2010 the anniversary conference of the “Right Livelihood Award” - better known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” - will be held in Bonn. Almost 100 laureates of the prestigious award including Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish of SEKEM be looking for answers to today’s global challenges facing humanity. The event week will take place at the Gustav-StresemannInstitute and various public places and institutions in and around Bonn. SEKEM will be involved in the anniversary week with a view to raising awareness for the need for inter-cultural exchange and common, cross-border research projects that aim to holistically understand the modern crises that affect the entire globe. Many include economic, socio-cultural, and environmental aspects and therefore require an integrated approach to their solution. Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish, founder of the SEKEM initiative, and Helmy Abouleish, Managing Director of the SEKEM Group will attend numerous events open to the public during the days of the conference. They will work to engage the laureates, experts, and the public in working groups and thematic talks at renowned locations throughout the area of the city of Bonn. It will also be their goal to create “critical mass” among thematically related working groups and laureates, to combine and focus competencies and expertise, and to achieve greater awareness about key projects among the attending public. Approximately 15 individual conference sessions will be open for public attendance. They will be organized in cooperation with numerous renowned institutions, NGO’s and businesses as
opportunities to link the world of science and praxis. The youth conference “Youth Future Project” is aimed at pupils and students will organize events for young people with participation of individual award winners. It aims to create greater awareness of current social and environmental problems among young people to sharpen and encourage individual activism. Public Events with Helmy Abouleish part of a “day of networking” (Friday, 17.09.2010). Each event will bring together selected winners of the award, allow for contributions from acclaimed experts, and aim to answer questions from the audience. The events will in part feature opportunities for group work, plenary sessions, or lectures by the laureates. The international learning initiative “Right Livelihood College” and an independent youth conference will offer young people the opportunity to work with the laureates at events alongside the conference program. They shall primarily further inter-generational cooperation. The “Right Livelihood College” as an international exchange and education initiative links the recipients of the prize with young and experienced professionals from all fields of science, economics, and culture. As a virtual network it connects partnering universities and their researchers to the projects of laureates on a global level. In Bonn it will bring together researchers and practitioners in intensive workshops on a variety of topics such as sustainability, human rights, conflict resolution, new economics, globalization, or genetic engineering to discuss practical solutions and explore
“Changing Course - Towards a Sustainable World Economy”, 16.09.2010, 13:00-17:00, German Institute for Development Cooperation (DIE), Tulpenfeld 6, 53113 Bonn “Inspirations for Living Change”, 16.09.2010, 09:30 to 12:30, Gustav-Stresemann-Institute Public Events with Ibrahim Abouleish A movie night with four “Alternative Nobel Prize” winners, 09.15.2010, 20.30 clock, WOKI, Bertha-vonSuttner-Platz 1-7, 53111 Bonn “Re-Orientating Modern Education: Values, Meanings, and Strategies”, 16.09.2010, 13:00-17:00, Alanus University, Villestr. 3, 53347 Alfter “Inspirations for Living Change”, 16.09.2010, 09:30 to 12:30, Gustav-Stresemann-Institute “Wissen Aktuell - Spezial”, Friday 17.09.2010, 17:00-19:00, Event Science Centre, Cologne Registration is generally required. Information and addresses can be found on the conference website.
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More information: www.kurswechseln.de
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Culture
Summer School for Cairo’s Children Focuses on Science Education and Individual Experience Cooperation with „Research, Development and Innovation“ (RDI) benefits SEKEM‘s Summer School to improve scientific knowledge among young children. programme and required the instructors to exercise their abilities in self-lead research. Female and male kindergarten teachers and school instructors thus set out to acquire the necessary prerequisites to prepare the advanced 5-hour programme for the 70 children from the big city. Never Seen a Cow Before The programme aimed to enable children to discover the countryside on their own as for them as city dwellers it is still frequently unknown. It began with a “hands-on” visit to the animal stables. Here the youngsters could discover how a cow is fed and where her fodder is coming from. Remarkably, most of the children had never seen a cow before.
SEKEM‘s Summer School addresses children in school and this year focuses specifically on scientific education.
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he organisation RDI has been offering summer camps in Cairo for children and adolescents for some time. The annual camps aim at familiarising youngsters with the exact sciences through age-appropriate programmes and actual experience of nature. This year RDI for the first time sent 2 groups of 70 youngsters each aged 9 to 15 to the SEKEM farm as part of a new “Summer School” programme. Immediate Experience of Nature The instructors at the SEKEM School rose to the occasion and set out to create a nature experience programme for these and other groups that frequently visit SEKEM within the framework of their own learning programmes. SEKEM’s prior experience with the SESC (SEKEM Environmental Science Centre) proved to be of great value (also page 3). The pupils were meant to experience nature in its “true form” at SEKEM specifically as an experience additional to the laboratory experiments and theoretical training they receive during their regular schooling. But the preparation time proved to be a great challenge for the teachers, too. Preparation of the events was an integral part of the
Three groups that were supervised by three teachers each then explored the soils with their diverse life of microorganisms that produce what is later fed to the cows. Armed with magnifying glasses the children began to examine pieces of dirt attempting to name and classify the insects and beetles they found. The exploration of nature happened exactly where life itself took place: in the shade of the trees. That these, too, are varied and bear names individual to their species came as a great surprise for many who were only aware of the general term “tree”. The final topic to be studied was how such life can actually be improved through human work. To produce their very own compost the children were allowed to look for all the needed ingredients anywhere on the SEKEM farm. Some collected dry sticks and leaves, others entered the workshops to ask for wood chips, again others examined the mess halls to scavenge for vegetable leftovers. The collections were examined together and it was discovered how they could be turned into compost. To speed up the experience each of the children was allowed to take home some ready-made compost from SEKEM’s plants, a pot, and some sunflower seeds to raise his or her very own plant at home. For the team leaders and youngsters the days of the “Summer School” always are a success providing them with opportunities to ask questions and discover the answers on their own. At the concluding event the children proved how much they had enjoyed the outdoors. 30 of them chose to spend another 5 days at SEKEM during winter to explore the skies - a success specifically for the SEKEM teachers who marvelled at how active the children naturally become in exploring nature when given the chance. Yvonne Floride
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Impressions
Impressions from SEKEM
Over the last years the demand for organically produced products has picked up on a worldwide scale. Moreover, the demand regarding their quality has kept pace. They, too, have become much more specific. SEKEM identified this trend early on and has since begun to make substantial investments in the production of greenhouse vegetables and teamed up with a European partner. With the partner „Grow Group Holland“ SEKEM was able to introduce a new production technique for very robust, diseaseresistant seedlings already back in 2007. The technology called “grafting” is an alternative to chemical treatment of the soil against diseases, the use of growth regulators in cultivation or the employment of genetically modified organisms since the roots of the seedlings are already very pest-resistant from the start. A few years later SEKEM’s firm „El Mizan“ already contributes with 1,2% to the revenue of the SEKEM Group. Relative to the other firms “Mizan” employs a very high number of female executive personnel. “Mizan’s” own revenue climbed to 2,7 mio. LE since 2007. More than 1,5 mio. seedlings are today being produced every year together with growing quantities of fresh herbs, tomatoes, bell peppers, egg plants, and other greenhouse vegetables. “Mizan’s” staff is also experimenting with cultivating mushrooms.
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News in Brief
Rudolf-Steiner-Archive Connects Initiatives Online
Movie Underlines Exceptional Importance of Healthy Soil
Helmy Abouleish to Present at “Living Change Conference”
Numerous organisations and initiatives in many countries of Europe have begun to prepare for the Rudolf Steiner’s 150. birthday anniversary. To allow for an optimal coordination of the various planned activities and to prepare their uniform presentation to an interested public the Rudolf-SteinerArchive in Dornach, Switzerland is now offering a communal platform online.
What exactly is happening below our feet? Why can soils “inhale and exhale” such tremendous quantities of CO2? Could it be that we have so far overlooked one of the most important instruments in combatting climate change - life in our soils? Until recently the quality criteria signifying healthy soil were mostly unknown. What was known was harmful substances were not supposed to be in the ground. Until recently many also thought that the way our soils are cultivated was irrelevant for climate change. Also, until recently many thought they could conquer nature through physics and chemistry. A mistake as we see more and more often.
In September the “Alternative Nobel Prize” will celebrate its 30th birthday at a conference in Bonn. IFOAM and COLABORA will be using the opportunity and organise a linked event bearing the title “Visions and Inspirations for a Better World.” 11 laureates of the prize will be meeting approximately 300 active participants of the conference in the framework of plenary talks and workshops. The one-day “Living Change” conference will be bilingual (German/English) and will be broadcast on the Internet.
The new portal can be reached at www.rudolfsteiner-2011.com and features all events and activities currently in planning and that have a concrete connection to the anniversary year. Next to various large conferences, congresses, exhibitions, and artistic performances the website also features a catalogue of many events of smaller scale that are related to the work or legacy of Rudolf Steiner. To provide visitors with rapid access and easy orientation all events have been sorted by geographical location, date, and thematic topics. Additionally the website offers a fundamental insight into the biography of Rudolf Steiner and basic information on all fields of anthroposophic life and work. It is the goal of the new site to improve the visibility of the manifold impulses of Rudolf Steiner’s work and heritage in the 21. century that form the foundation for countless initiatives as one common source of thought and insight. Moreover, a train running through various countries in Europe is currently being made ready as for boarding during the coming year.
The documentary “Humus - The Forgotten Chance to Fight Climate Change” informs about the little known connections between the quality of our soils, agriculture, and climate change. It examines the relevance worldwide arable surfaces that are deteriorating at a rapid rate for saving our climate. On the basis of numerous practical experiences and the results of scientific research projects many have come to understand that the ground holds far greater promise for the sequestration of CO2 than previously thought. Plus, when soils are adequately worked their top humus layer is becoming more and more fertile, too. Does the future belong to a new form of agriculture? “Eco agriculture” as in “eco tourism” or “eco mobility”? Scientifically examined trials demonstrate that many options still remain to be explored. The movie is predominantly screened in Austrian theatres across the summer and can be bought via its website as a DVD.
Source: Rudolf-Steiner-Archive
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More information: www.rudolf-steiner-2011.com
Source: www.humus-derfilm.at
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More information: www.humus-derfilm.at
The event encompasses workshops on topics such as “Biodiversity versus Monotony”, “From Genetics to Nanotechnology – How Do We Fight the Big Threats?”, “Organic Agriculture – The Way to Sustainable Food Production”, “Better Politics for Greater Food Security and the Potential of ‚Eco-Intensification‘”, and “The Political Agenda for a Paradigm Change”. Location: Gustav-StresemannInstitut, Langer Grabenweg 68, 53175 Bonn, 16.09.2010, 9:00-18:00. Source: COLABORA
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More information: http://www.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_ conferences/Living_Change_en.html
Masthead: The editors of SEKEM Insight wish to thank all contributors to this issue. Editors: Christina Boecker Bijan Kafi Contact: SEKEM-Insight c/o SEKEM Holding P.O.Box 2834, El Horreya, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt insight@SEKEM.com Pictures: 1: Christian Labhart; 4, 6: SEKEM; 7: Bijan Kafi No republication without written consent by the publisher.
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