SEKEM‘s Journal for Economy, Culture, and Society in Egypt
SEKEM Insight Nr. 86 - October 2009
Dear Readers, SEKEM has made a new step with the opening of its museum for early history. The museum documents the natural and human conditions for the initiative and the circumstances for early civilisation in the region. With it SEKEM reminds its visitors of the long history of cultural development in Egypt. On the other hand, SEKEM is looking far into the future with its decision to engage itself in entrepreneurial, social, and political fields to fight climate change well beyond the boundaries of its own business and other activities. Senior staff of the initiative will hold speeches and participate in professional workshops internationally during the coming two months. At these occasions they will work with other leading intellectuals and practitioners and call for effective action across political and cultural borders. SEKEM is demonstrating that sustainable thinking can and should be oriented towards the past and the future at the same time. Both aspects represent the interest to preserve the foundations for natural and human civilisation for all through sustainability in thinking and action.
Your Team of Editors
Science
Social
Culture
SEKEM’s Fight Against Climate Change
Artistic Education in the Kindergarten
SEKEM Establishes Museum
SEKEM‘s Contribution to Fighting Climate Change
SEKEM needs water for irrigation. Egypt’s water supply will be hit hard in the near future by climate change.
During the last months the topic of climate change and of its consequences for SEKEM, Egypt, and the world as a whole have become increasingly important for the initiative. In a first step SEKEM began to collect facts and knowledge on climate change and the Heliopolis Academy carried out research to study its current and future impact on Egypt and the lives of its people. A second important step was to develop an awareness raising action plan for all SEKEM coworkers and employees. Working on the sustainability report also provided valuable
feedback and led to speeches for co-workers and friends held at the Heliopolis Academy. In addition to this entirely internal process SEKEM attempted to further an understanding of the effects of climate change among other groups and partners and in various working groups e.g. the Young Businessmen of Egypt, the Industrial Modernization Centre and the German Arab Chamber of Commerce. Some of these organizations have already proceeded to add new trainings to their programme portfolios to help Egyptian businesses to adapt to the challenges, measure their environ-
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mental impact, reduce their CO2 emissions etc. Moreover, a cooperation and exchange with international organisations such as the IAP (SEKEM’s closest business partners of the International Association for Partnership), IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) or the World Future Council has been established. This has lead to a fruitful exchange of knowledge and common plans for further action. Finally, SEKEM has taken up work with three ministries of the Egyptian government to help them formulate their own position papers and draft successful action plans that deliver concrete results, especially in light of the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009. Why is the topic so important for SEKEM then? And what are its concrete positions that are also reflected in the Ministry’s official strategies? While the effects of climate change are still being discussed among scientists and will surely be very different in the different countries and regions it is widely accepted that Egypt will be hit very hard in the long term. Some scientists assume the effects on the desert country may be as bad as those expected to affect poor and humid countries like Bangladesh. If sea levels rise due to global warming, Egypt’s flat cost and Delta region will be flooded to a great extent.
Figure 1
Resettlement will be required for the areas of the major cities close to the coast. More importantly vast areas of precious arable land will be lost, mostly to the Mediterranean Sea. Remarkably, only 5% of Egypt’s area is arable land. Thus the loss of wide stretches of fertile soil directly threatens food security in the country. Figure 1 demonstrates the potentially catastrophic effects of a rise of the sea level of 1,5m along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The high amount of humus in organic soil also helps to save irrigation water as it can hold water for a much longer time than the poor soils that are frequently the result of long-term conventional agriculture - a fact that will become more and more important in future when the growing population of Egypt will have to cope with the scarce supply of water in temperatures expected to be even in excess of those experienced today.
Different kinds of actions bear the potential to either stop or at least slow down global warming. However, research and compilation of scientific results done by the Heliopolis Academy has shown that organic (and biodynamic) agriculture is one of the most effective means to achieve positive results. SEKEM has always promoted biodynamic farming. These results, however, strengthen its conviction to boost its efforts.
These findings have been reason enough for the Minister of
On a worldwide scale agriculture contributes with 6,2 gigatons (Gt) of CO2-equivalent emissions to the overall emissions of the world’s industries as a whole (45,9 Gt per year). The annual potential of emission reductions in this sector is expected to be as high as 4,6 Gt. Advanced organic agriculture when practiced on a significant scale not only spares the soils of the world a substantial quantity of chemical fertilisers and other artificial additives and thereby saves Egypt’s scarce ground water and provides healthier products. It also has a high potential for carbon soil sequestration. While conventional agriculture depends on rising inputs of synthetic fertilizers that require extensive energy for their production and thereby emit green house gases organic agriculture actively helps to build up a healthy soil that can serve as a “depot” for greenhouse gases (“CO2 sink”). Book your visit to SEKEM: www.SEKEM-reisen.de www.demeter-reisen.de
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If you would like to learn more about the positive effects of organic agriculture on the climate, ask for the complete report “Organic Agriculture‘s Multifunctional Solutions” by writing to insight@sekem.com
Agriculture and Land Reclamation Amin Abaza to integrate organic agriculture in his plans for a transformation of the agricultural sector. SEKEM is convinced that the best way to promote organic agriculture worldwide would be to officially recognize its positive effect in regard to emission reduction and include it into the IPCC protocol. This would allow to pay incentives for organic farmers for the reduction of green house gas emissions as is already the case in other “clean industry” sectors. These financial incentives could boost the transformation of the agricultural sector in developing countries and thereby save huge amounts of CO2 emissions. Additional measures must be taken if climate change is to be halted. In the next issues SEKEM Insight will report on other efforts to support Egyptian decision makers in taking effective action. Christina Boecker, Svenja Bromberg
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SEKEM Museum Documents Natural and Early History in the Region In the year 2004 Prof. Wolfgang Schad, Evolutionary Biologist from Germany and long-standing friend of the SEKEM initiative, for the first time discovered stones that had been prepared by early man in the direct vicinity of the main farm grounds just out of Cairo. Soon afterwards additional artefacts and pieces of early ceramics were added to the collection. This quickly lead to the idea to erect a museum close to the original sites - on the SEKEM grounds themselves, that is. It now bears the name „SEKEM Museum for Natural History and History of Early Man“ and documents the changing evolution of the region. Multiple excursions into the adjacent areas made it possible to add numerous artefacts to the collection and inaugurate new rooms of the museum. The necessary 30 glass containers were constructed in workshops of SEKEM. Until today about 880 man-made objects could be added to the museum’s collections found on the fields adjacent to the SEKEM farm alone. They could be associated with multiple different cultural stages of development of the older stone age. It could therefore be shown that early man has been living in and around SEKEM’s grounds for a long time. About 80 of the artefacts from SEKEM have a value that warrants their display in
the museum. They have been added to the present collections. The science of early history today assumes that early man during the stone age has left Africa about 2 million years ago and several times thereafter into the direction of what is today the Middle East. These movements apparently passed through the area between the Nile delta and the Red Sea and must therefore have led through the region where SEKEM is situated today. Thus scientific research dedicated to uncovering the early natural and human history of the geographical area to the east of Cairo is specifically important. Additionally no research of this kind has been carried out over the past several decades on the topic of the early stone age as it developed in Lower Egypt. In cooperation with the Heliopolis University Dr. Wolfgang Schad is thus already working on a publication on the findings he and his partners have made over the past years of preparation of the museum. The museum has been installed in two rooms of the SEKEM school for the arts. Next to archeological findings it also covers the geology and palaeontology of Lower Egypt and the fauna of the region. The collection is mostly complete. However, preparations are still being made for an appropriate display of all artefacts. Nevertheless the museum is already open to all visitors of SEKEM. Aside from the scientific exploitation of its findings the museum is also meant to introduce specifically the pupils and students of the SEKEM institutions to the natural history, diversity, and beauty of the early development of man and nature in Egypt.
The SEKEM museum
Dr. Benjamin Bembé
SEKEM Organic Food Store Reopens After Major Redesign On 26 September 2009 SEKEM’s first „Organic & More“-supermarket reopened its doors in Cairo’s Zamalek quarter after substantial refurbishment that also involved a major redesign. The original „Sekem Health Food Shop“ now boasts an entirely new layout and colourful new design of the products’ presentation areas and includes a significantly extended range of products. One of the novelties is that the store does no longer only sell SEKEM products but also items from other partner firms. The product portfolio now includes organic foodstuffs and textiles from Egyptian, German, and other European organic manufacturers including, for instance, Waadi Foods, Rapunzel or Holle Babyfood. The design of the store is influenced by the concept of closeness to nature: natural materials made from wood, fresh colours, and an entirely new lighting concept create a customer experience rarely found anywhere in Egypt. Plus, the shop’s entire operation is CO2-neutral as all emissions are regularly offset. Moreover, store designers have gone to great lengths to introduce customers to the topic of sustainability through additional, innovative means such as a “wall of sustainability” that aims to explain key concepts to the customer wishing to learn more while shopping. The store’s operation is based on a franchise system and represents the first step towards a complete redesign of all existing SEKEM shops. The popularity of the concept, the design, and the leading idea is confirmed by the strong demand of other shops’ owners. Thus, an important first step towards the establishment of an entirely organic food store chain in Egypt has been made. Thomas Fischer
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Artistic Education in SEKEM‘s Kindergarten Impressions from SEKEM
Harvesting sesame on a partner farm
Artistic education plays a big role in SEKEM‘s social initiatives from an early age
Art plays a big role in all areas of learning, work, and cultural activity in SEKEM. However, not only pupils and co-workers practically exercise their artistic abilities - it already starts with the children of the kindergarten that are introduced to the arts in a playful and social manner. Over the course of the past year their four teachers have worked on introducing the children to traditional folk culture in the form of orally preserved folk and children’s songs. They have done so in cooperation with Bernhard Sieberer, director of the SEKEM choir and musician himself. The team has begun collecting and documenting Arab musical heritage and has complemented selected works with melodies appropriate to the children’s age. Aside from these pedagogical tasks the group also aims at making their work accessible to a larger audience. A book with children’s songs is already in preparation as many traditional Egyptian folk songs have already been forgotten. A special programme had been prepared for the older children this past
year that aimed to develop their various artistic abilities: water colour painting, sketching, eurythmy, handcrafts, physical exercise, and early musical education. They were thus prepared to take up their studies at the SEKEM School through a programme individually tailored to their age and educational needs. As a conclusion to the programme the children rehearsed a performance of the famous play “Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten” with their teachers Abla Hind and Abla Howaida. They then performed the play at an evening opening to all pupils from the lower grades and the classes for curative education. One teacher read the tale out loud to the entire audience while the children sang along or played their individual instruments. Each of these represented a specific figure from the tale. It was a special challenge to all of the young participants in the audience to not only understand the tale itself but match it’s story with the music they perceived and the instrument they enjoyed on stage. Christina Boecker
At SEKEM October brings the harvest of one of the most important cultivations of the summer: sesame. For many of the demeter farmers of the south it is one of the key products of the region. After the harvest the individual straws including the kernels are bound into bundles that are placed upright on the field to dry. After about 10 days the golden kernels of the sesame can be threshed from the straws. Even though sesame plays a huge role in Egyptian cooking for instance in traditional dishes such as Tahina (sesame paste) or Halawa (sesame sweets) a large part of the harvest leaves the country in the direction of the European markets.
Imprint: Publisher: SEKEM, Egypt The editorial team of SEKEM Insight would like to thank all correspondents who have contributed to this edition. Editors: Christina Boecker Bijan Kafi Contact: SEKEM-Insight c/o Sekem Holding P.O.Box 2834 El Horreya, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt
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