SEKEM

Last updated
SEKEM-Logo SEKEM-Logo.jpg
SEKEM-Logo

The organization SEKEM (Ancient Egyptian: 'vitality from the sun') was founded in 1977 by the Egyptian pharmacologist and social entrepreneur Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish in order to bring about cultural renewal in Egypt on a sustainable basis. [1] [2] Located northeast of Cairo, the organization now includes: [3]

Contents

SEKEM's goals are to "restore and maintain the vitality of the soil and food as well as the biodiversity of nature" through sustainable, organic agriculture and to support social and cultural development in Egypt. [1] Revenue from the trading companies grew from 37 million Egyptian pounds in 2000 to 100 million in 2003. By 2005, the organization had established a network of more than 2,000 farmers and numerous partner organizations in Egypt [4] and began increasingly to seek to extend its "experience and acquired knowledge" to other countries, including India, Palestine, Senegal, Turkey, and - in partnership with the Fountain Foundation - South Africa. [3]

History

After a stay of 19 years in Austria, Dr. Abouleish returned to Egypt for a cultural trip in 1975. Touched by the deplorable economic and social situation of his country of origin, he decided to begin a project of cultural renewal on the basis of a synthesis of Islam and anthroposophy. Two years later he bought a plot of land in what was, at the time, desert bordering farmland of the Nile valley. The original goal was to develop the land and improve crop yields using biodynamic methods. A thick border of trees was planted to encircle the seventy hectares of land, and trees were planted along all the roads built; a forest was also planted on part of the land. (The initial planting included 120,000 casuarina, eucalyptus and Persian lilac seedlings.) The Bedouins who lived nearby, and sometimes on the land, were brought into the project, given work and helped with their living needs. Buildings were built using traditional adobe; some of these were designed by Hassan Fathy. The initial farm animals were Egyptian buffalo. The organization sold milk products produced from the buffalo milk and produce from the farm.

The first large economic venture of the community initiative was production of a medicinal compound, ammoidin, an extract of Ammi majus (laceflower). The manufacture of herbal teas and a company to market fresh biodynamic produce in Europe followed. The needs of these companies led to many farms throughout Egypt switching to biodynamic methods; the SEKEM organization began an active advisory service to aid these farms in the transition to and the maintenance of biodynamic standards. Sekem leased many of these lands.

Community projects began early in the initiative's history: a medical clinic using anthroposophic medicine, and a Society for Cultural Development sponsoring lectures, concerts and other cultural activities.

In 1987, the center for adult education (Mahad) began its work; children with handicaps are also educated in this center. In 1988, SEKEM opened a kindergarten also open to the local Bedouin community; this grew into the SEKEM school, educating children from kindergarten through twelfth grade (about 18 years of age) on the basis of Waldorf education. "The school serves Muslim and Christian children alike encouraging them to live in harmony and have respect for the other's religious practices." The school also operates a literacy center for illiterate children between ten and fourteen years of age.

In response to the use of child labor in Egypt, SEKEM founded the project Chamomile Children, which offers children between ten and fourteen an education, vocational training, meals, and medical care in conjunction with their work; the children's teachers look after the children the whole day. There is also a cooperative for employees to organize the social processes (the Cooperative of SEKEM Employees), an independent organization with members from all the businesses and cultural institutions associated with SEKEM.

In 1990, SEKEM founded the Centre of Organic Agriculture in Egypt (COAE), an independent organization that inspects organic farms in Egypt, Iran and Sudan.

Faced with pesticide residues in their products that came from aerial spraying on nearby farms, SEKEM took up an initiative to eliminate such spraying in Egypt. As cotton production depended upon the sprays, SEKEM explored organic cotton production on initially small fields. The experiments were successful and yields actually were better than non-organic production achieved. The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture sponsored further and more extensive tests. Within three years, the ministry agreed that organic pest suppression was superior for cotton farming and began converting the entire area of Egyptian cotton, 4,000 square kilometres, to organic methods for controlling pests; the conversion took two years. The conversion resulted in a reduction in the use of synthetic pesticides in Egypt by over 90% and an increase in the average yield of raw cotton of almost 30%. [1] SEKEM then created a company to process organic cotton using mechanical rather than chemical methods, NatureTex.

In response to increasing publicity about the novel methods employed by the community in many realms, the association of Muslim sheiks in Egypt gave the community a plaque verifying that SEKEM is an Islamic initiative. This was the result of intensive meetings between SEKEM and Muslim religious leaders.

SEKEM's next initiative was the first private pharmaceutical company in Egypt, specializing in medicinal teas. The medical center had now grown to the point where it needed its own building; concurrently it considerably expanded its outreach into the Bedouin community, helping establish sanitary facilities and clean water supplies.

In 1997, SEKEM established a vocational training center offering trainings in metalwork, carpentry, mechanical work, electrical work, tailoring, biodynamic farming and trading. The vocational center also includes an art school. The German Society for Technical Cooperation helped establish this project. In 1999 the SEKEM Academy (now Sekem University) opened. Originally a center for agricultural, pharmaceutical and medical research, the University now also conducts studies and offers training in other areas.

In 2001, a holding company was established to administer the finances of all the SEKEM companies and to oversee developmental projects. The holding company includes a department to help each individual company with its developmental process, and is also responsible for the education and training programs for employees. [5]

Social connections

All SEKEM companies have a policy of ensuring transparency in the production, distribution and consumption of their goods. They work to ensure fair and secure prices for the farmers supplying them, basing their operations on the principle that the health of the economy depends upon producers, distributors and consumers cooperating to generate stable businesses. [1] SEKEM hosts a monthly gathering of all farmers working together with it; about 200 farmers attended these sessions as of 2004. It has created the following NGOs: [1]

SEKEM and Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish received the Right Livelihood Award in 2003 for integrating the commercial success with promotion of the social and cultural development of society. [7] The organization has been cited as a successful example of social entrepreneurship that has had a significant impact on Egyptian society both through its influence on the country's agricultural practices and through its educational and cultural institutions. [8] [9] Furthermore, Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish and his Son Helmy were named Social Entrepreneurs of the year 2003 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Well known business schools like IESE and CIDA City Campus use various case studies (e.g. Harvard Business Press [10] [11] to illustrate this novel approach to sustainable social entrepreneurship. Recent visitors included the first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, a group from the Fulbright Commission in Egypt, [12] the former Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany, Otto Schily and the founder of the Witten/Herdecke University Dr. Konrad Schily (a former member of the German Bundestag).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community-supported agriculture</span> Type of sharing system for food production and distribution

Community-supported agriculture or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CERES Community Environment Park</span> 4.5-acre Green land in Melbourne, Australia

CERES Community Environment Park is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) not-for-profit environmental education centre and social enterprise hub located in urban Brunswick East, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport</span> Private universisty in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt

The Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) or (AAST) is a regional university operated by the Arab League, which runs programs in marine transportation, business, and engineering. AASTMT started as a notion in the Arab League Transport Committee's meetings on 11 March 1970. The academy's inception was in 1972 in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Later on, it expanded into Cairo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural education</span> Training in farming, natural resources, and land management

Agricultural education is the systematic and organized teaching, instruction and training available to students, farmers or individuals interested in the science, business and technology of agriculture as well as the management of land, environment and natural resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Abouleish</span> Egyptian chemist and medical researcher (1937–2017)

Ibrahim Abouleish was an Egyptian philanthropist, drug designer and chemist. He began his chemistry and medicine studies at the age of 19 in Austria. He did his doctorate in 1969 in the field of pharmacology and then worked in leading positions within pharmaceutical research. During this time he was granted patents for a number of new medicines, especially for osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic cotton</span> Cotton grown organically from non-GM plants

Organic cotton is generally defined as cotton that is grown organically in subtropical countries such as India, Turkey, China, and parts of the USA from non-genetically modified plants, and without the use of any synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides aside from the ones allowed by the certified organic labeling. Its production is supposed to promote and enhance biodiversity and biological cycles. In the United States, cotton plantations must also meet the requirements enforced by the National Organic Program (NOP) from the USDA in order to be considered organic. This institution determines the allowed practices for pest control, growing, fertilizing, and handling of organic crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heliopolis University</span>

Heliopolis University is a non-profit university in Egypt with the mission of sustainable development. In Fall 2018, Heliopolis University had around 1,700 students in five faculties.

Sustainable procurement or green procurement is a process whereby organizations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a life-cycle basis while addressing equity principles for sustainable development, therefore benefiting societies and the environment across time and geographies. Procurement is often conducted via a tendering or competitive bidding process. The process is used to ensure the buyer receives goods, services or works for the best possible price, when aspects such as quality, quantity, time, and location are compared. Procurement is considered sustainable when organizations broadens this framework by meeting their needs for goods, services, works, and utilities in a way that achieves value for money and promotes positive outcomes not only for the organization itself but for the economy, environment, and society.

George Alkiviades David MFR is a Greek Cypriot-British entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the chairman emeritus of the board of directors of Coca-Cola HBC AG and has headed the organization for 35 years. He is also the current chairman of the A. G. Leventis Foundation’s Greek Committee.

The New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI) is a non-profit organization based in Colchester, Vermont in the United States, which is building secondary schools throughout South Sudan, a region affected by war for nearly half a century. It was founded in January 2006 by Atem Deng, a former Sudanese refugee, and Robert Lair, a social entrepreneur and educator. The organization was created after a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, bringing the conflict in southern Sudan to an official close. The CPA created a critical opportunity for development to take place in this region. In 2004, Deng and Lair asked Sudanese they met at refugee camps throughout East Africa what was most needed in their homeland. "Education" was the resounding answer they received. South Sudan currently suffers from some of the worst education access rates in the world. Female illiteracy hovers above 93%, and only 5% of young people graduate from high school. It was from these discussions with Sudanese refugees that they developed NESEI. The organization opened its first school in May 2008, near the town of Yei, and it currently plans to build 20 schools throughout South Sudan.

The Earth Embassy is a sustainable design, architecture and eco-business group dedicated to developing, building and promoting environmentally sound homes and community centered on organic farms, renewable energy and small business incubation hubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends-International</span>

Friends-International (FI) is an international social enterprise and registered non-governmental organization focusing on children's empowerment established in Cambodia in 1994. Its mission is "to build a future where all children are safe from all forms of abuse, are able to become productive citizens of their countries and contribute to a more equitable and sustainable world." FI works in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and with almost 50 partners around the world, providing social services to marginalized urban young people and their families.

A sustainability organization is (1) an organized group of people that aims to advance sustainability and/or (2) those actions of organizing something sustainably. Unlike many business organizations, sustainability organizations are not limited to implementing sustainability strategies which provide them with economic and cultural benefits attained through environmental responsibility. For sustainability organizations, sustainability can also be an end in itself without further justifications.

READ Global is a non-profit organization operating in rural South Asia and headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded on the belief that improved access to educational resources creates lasting social change in developing communities, READ partners with rural villages to build Community Library and Resource Centers. READ Centers offer a variety of programs – from literacy and women's empowerment to information communications technology (ICT) and livelihood skills training. READ currently works with communities in rural Bhutan, India and Nepal. As of August 2013 there were over 69 READ Centers in India, Bhutan, and Nepal, and over two million individuals had access to these centers.

California Autism Foundation (CAF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Richmond, California.

Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), voluntary Service Organisation established and registered in 2005 in Kathmandu, Nepal by a group of social activists, educationalists, development workers, and other professionals. VIN is a non-religious, non-political, and non-profit organization. VIN focuses on empowerment projects in marginalized communities of Nepal through its programs and projects VIN mobilizes local and international volunteers in Nepal and interns in developmental and humanitarian projects including research, education, construction, training, and counseling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flanner House</span> Indianapolis social services organization

Flanner House is a social services organization, with a 2-acre farm, bodega, cafe, and orchard serving the Indianapolis community. It started in 1903 as an African-American community service center and was named for Frank Flanner. When Flanner died in 1912 and the organization fell on financial hardships, they changed the name from Flanner Guild to Flanner House and added many services with the financial assistance from the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. The organization continues to assist senior citizens, those in financial straits, families, children and much more.

Social entrepreneurship in South Asia involves business activities that have a social benefit, often for people at the bottom of the pyramid. It is an emerging area of entrepreneurship that is supported by both the public sector and the private sector.

Globalization of supply chains and pressure to lower production costs have negatively impacted environments and communities around the world, especially in developing nations where production of high demand goods is increasingly taking place. Since the 1990s, awareness of these negative impacts has grown, leading stakeholders to push companies to take responsibility and actively work to improve the sustainability of their supply chains. It has come to be understood that a company is only as sustainable as the start of its supply chain, bringing about the need for sustainable sourcing. Sustainable sourcing refers to the inclusion of social, environmental, and economic criteria in the sourcing process.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Innovative Business in Egypt: The SEKEM Initiative". ]CSR Europe. Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Seelos, Christian; Mair, Johanna. ""The Sekem Initiative"". IESE Business School case study. Abouleish's objective was to heal Egyptian society from the wounds of the past and to initiate holistic development able to create economic, social and cultural value in a sustainable manner.
  3. 1 2 3 "Right Livelihood Award". www.rightlivelihood.org. Archived 2007-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair, Hope for Sustainable Development Archived 2007-03-01 at the Wayback Machine , pp.2-3
  5. ↑ Abouleish, Ibrahim, SEKEM: A Sustainable Community in the Egyptian Desert, ISBN   0-86315-532-4
  6. 1 2 3 "UN Global Compact report". www.unglobalcompact.org.
  7. ↑ "Right Livelihood - Recipients". www.rightlivelihood.org. Archived 2006-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Mair; Marti (2006). ""Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight"" (PDF). Journal of World Business www.usasbe.org. p. 38.
  9. ↑ "Ibrahim Abouleish". World Future Council. Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Case Study published by Harvard Business School Publishing". harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu.
  11. ↑ "The Power of Unreasonable People". Harvard Business School Press, www.odemagazine.com. 2008.
  12. ↑ "Fulbright Commission in Egypt". www.fulbright-egypt.org. Archived 2008-12-22 at the Wayback Machine

Books and articles about SEKEM

30°25′10.9″N31°38′03.2″E / 30.419694°N 31.634222°E / 30.419694; 31.634222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.