Since antiquity, agriculture represented a focal aspect of humanity’s wellbeing and played a key role in the development of societies and nations. As the world continued to develop at a rapid phase, massive agricultural breakthrough took place, particularly with the occurrence of the green and transgenic revolutions which transformed the sector into the conventional mainstream model it is today, which relied on maximizing production through agricultural technologies, modern plant breeding, the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and intensive agricultural practices such as soil tillage and monocropping.
Despite the initial success of this model in raising food quantities, particularly between the 1970s and 1990s, it became very evident that conventional agriculture leads to more harm than good, and causes long term economic, social and environmental issues, such as resource depletion, land and soil fertility degradation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, weed and pest resistance to chemicals, health hazards, in addition to accentuating poverty, exacerbating regional disparity and inequality, and the long term decline of production rates.
Recognizing the negative consequences of conventional agriculture, sustainable alternatives need to be explored and pushed into mainstream status in order to promote an agricultural future that is economically viable, socially conscious and environmentally sound. Following this rationale, The Egyptian Biodynamic Association was established in 1994 by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish to promote the development of organic and biodynamic agriculture in Egypt and to support farmers through a variety of services including consultancy, extension, training and facilitating market access. In addition, EBDA is involved in different national and international projects that not only promote sustainable agriculture, but also rural development and sustainability.
