EBDA in January 2024
A Comprehensive Onboarding Training Journey For The EBDA New Agronomists
31 newly engineers hired and trained by the EBDA agricultural consultants
During the intensive Onboarding Training held from December 23rd, 2023, to January 7th, 2024, new engineers were immersed in a multifaceted program aimed at familiarizing them with EBDA’s vision, mission, and inception story. This journey delved into the organization’s goals, past achievements, and forthcoming endeavors, providing a holistic understanding of EBDA’s trajectory and aspirations. The curriculum included both theoretical and practical sessions covering diverse topics such as the History of Agriculture, Agroecology, Soil Fertility Management, Biological Pest Management, Compost Production, Biodynamic Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Irrigation Systems, and more. Participants engaged in hands-on experiences, including visits to Soil Fertility and Fertilization Units and various Sekem companies, reinforcing their learning with practical applications. Special emphasis was placed on the Economy of Love standard and the Economy of Love Carbon Credit scheme, aligning the training with EBDA’s core values. Furthermore, sessions on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Post-Harvest Treatment, Plant Diseases Management, and an introduction to the ERPNext data tool equipped the engineers with comprehensive knowledge essential for their roles. The training culminated in a thorough recap and examination, ensuring the assimilation of crucial concepts and preparing the engineers for their responsibilities within EBDA. Get to know our engineers.
EBDA Team’s New Year celebration at SEKEM Farm
Scaling Impact Through Expansion
In a New Year lunch meeting at SEKEM Farm, the EBDA team celebrated the addition of 31 new agronomists, expanding the team to 87 members over the past three years. The meeting served as a platform to align everyone with the mission for this year: enrolling 10,000 new farmers into the Economy of Love standard regulations and its whole system credits program at EBDA. This initiative aims to support farmers in enhancing their income, production quality, soil health, water efficiency, and biodiversity, and approaching biodynamic practices among the Egyptian lands.
SEKEM Group’s Vision at GFFA
Biodynamic Agriculture for Sustainable Future
SEKEM Group CEO Helmy Abouleish was invited by German agriculture minister Cem Özdemir to give a keynote on the transformation potential of the biodynamic agriculture model of Economy of Love at this year’s Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin. Around 70 Agriculture Ministers from around the world participated in the forum. What a strong message.
Watch the video with Helmys keynote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3ksbydyd94
Economy of Love Special Initiative (EoL SI) Project
EBDA appreciates the support of our partners, Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (bbw-Gruppe), Sequa, gGmbH, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In this monthly report, EBDA is highlighting the progress of our joint initiatives focused on creating 160 new job opportunities and offering employment to 3,500 workers over the next three years. These efforts align with our commitment to fostering economic growth and making a positive impact on the employment landscape and for the goal of onboarding 40000 farmers under the EoL standard. Our strategic partnerships underscore our dedication to creating lasting change and contributing to the well-being of the community.
EBDA Various Training Programs and Exhibitions
1- On January 22nd and 23rd, the Assiut governorate hosted the “Wasat Al-Saeed” agricultural exhibition, showcasing innovations and advancements in the field. Within this event, SEKEM, in partnership with EBDA, took on the role of Organic Agriculture sponsor, demonstrating their commitment to sustainable farming practices. Alongside their sponsorship, EBDA played an active role by conducting four informative training sessions. These sessions focused on guiding attendees through the transition to organic farming methods and introduced them to the principles of the Economy of Love standard. Through their participation as both organizers and educators, SEKEM and EBDA contributed significantly to promoting eco-friendly agricultural practices and fostering a culture of sustainability within the community.
2- On January 15-17, Eng. Alshimaa Abdelghany from the Egyptian Biodynamic Association and Ms. Manar Fouad from the Organic Egypt Project participated in the Evaluating Social Programs Course at the American University in Cairo, New Campus. organized by J. Pal Mena, included an assessment of the social impact of the EBDA.
3- PGS activities: Since the end of October, PGS audits have been precisely carried out and are continuing to process. These audits are facilitated by 21 groups of well-trained peer reviewer farmers, each of whom has undergone intense training programs administered by the COAE and EBDA to ensure their proficiency in reviewing and auditing regenerative and biodynamic farms. With a targeted goal of reviewing 1313 farms by the end of February, these peer reviewers are diligently working with the EBDA’s agronomists to set up the inspections in a professional and efficient manner. The extending of these audits has been considerable, with more than 1000 farms thoroughly assessed as of the end of January. As the audits continue, the commitment remains strong, with a focused effort to complete the auditing process on the designated 1313 farms by the conclusion of February.
Enhancing Strategic Direction Through CASH Coalition’s Engagement at Workshop
The participation of SI EoL project in the CASH Coalition’s strategy workshop aims to foster learning and knowledge exchange regarding best practices among members who have successfully scaled farming initiatives across various countries. The workshop’s agenda for the first day revolves around key strategic questions, primarily focusing on the need for course correction within CASH’s strategy for 2024. It identifies two critical areas that can undermine coalitions: culture drift and strategy drift. Strategies are emphasized as choices that increase the likelihood of success, requiring coherence, and the ability to position the organization effectively. The workshop also delves into strategic questions concerning the coalition’s purpose, target audience, end outcomes, and priority actions, with a particular focus on developing strategies in carbon climate finance. Recommendations include adopting an advisory role in carbon market endeavors, leveraging collective bargaining power while advancing strategies for differentiating smallholder carbon initiatives. Furthermore, the workshop underscores the importance of aligning strategies with values such as those exemplified by EBDA and SEKEM, aiming to create governance structures that facilitate bringing carbon credits to local markets while exploring avenues for recognizing various environmental and social contributions beyond carbon.
Economy of Love Standard updates
EoL team in January 2024 successfully implemented the following in response to enhance the EoL criteria for the EBDA registered farmers:
- 64 EoL carbon credits have been sold
- 15,1700 EGP of the EoL funds
Figures: During the EBDA new year’s ceremony with the stakeholders who received their Economy of Love certificate by Helmy Abouleish among all the EBDA staff members at Sekem farm in Sharqiya region.
Farmers’ Training Program for January
1- EBDA in cooperation with BioTex Project conducted 2 day intensive training for a total 197 farmers at 7 different farms located in the Damietta region. The training focused on the module of biological control, under the supervision of our agri-consultants and agronomists. These are considered the last training sessions to close the inception phase of the project.
Worth to say that there are achieved results beyond the selected (13) living labs in two governorates Damietta and Behira to reach other different location of field trainings and network with the farmers neighbors through the comparative true cost study of cotton production ( conventional versus biodynamic ) achieving cost reduction to the favor of biodynamic agriculture around 25 % without neither calculation of the carbon credit certification income and selling price premium as well
2- In cooperation with KHNA project funded from BMZ, ToTs were conducted to address new farmers in Assuit governorate while agribusiness Upper Egypt fair training 303 participants on Eol, CC governance, organic input supplies centers in addition to how to access different packages of services when converting to biodynamic farming
3- Training and follow up visits were conducted by Dr. Saber Fayez during January 2024 to fennel demo plot in Qena governorate, beneficiaries were 43 participants. The consultant of the recommendation of the fennel organic production and postharvest treatment.
EBDA Farmers Growth & Training Program 2024
Farmers’ Growth for January
EBDA extension engineers successfully registered 116 new farms in January that included 582 farmers with a total area of 1170.5 acres.
Farmers’ Training Program for January
EBDA in cooperation with BioTex Project conducted 2 day intensive training for a total 197 farmers at 7 different farms located in the Damietta region. The training focused on the module of biological control, under the supervision of our agri-consultants and agronomists.
