Economy of Love, inspired by SEKEM in Egypt – Growing to 40,000 farmers by 2025 with the driving incentive of ecosystem services for smallholder farmers

Summary

The Sekem group is a social flagship enterprise that started in 1977 to cultivate desert land with organic and biodynamic methods. Inspired by Sekem, the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA) started 2019 the Economy of Love (EoL) certification standard for sustainable, ethical, and transparent products. The standard includes requirements based on biodynamic principles and criteria for biodiversity, social aspects, and mitigating and sequestering carbon. EoL grows out of Sekem's Vision 2057 and is supported by various development projects, including the Knowledge Hub for Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in North Africa (KHNA) by GIZ and the association Sekem Friends Germany.EBDA sold 26,421 tons of the carbon credits produced for 2022. 2,424 farmers received a total of 452,241 USD. The expansion plan foresees a growth to 40,000 farmers by the end of 2025.