More than 180.000 Euro for eco-social projects

Also in 2019 the HAND IN HAND fund provides worldwide help for self-help

Update: Since 2022, Rapunzel donates the HAND IN HAND donation (previously HAND IN HAND Fund) to the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation.

Sustainable agriculture and water management are often recurring themes for the HAND IN HAND fund. In addition, the HAND IN HAND fund, a joint initiative of Rapunzel Naturkost and the German Environmental Aid, also supports many other projects.

In Africa, Latin America and Asia. In 2019 the fund supported 37 projects with a total sum of 187,000 Euro. Common to all projects is that every measure improves environmental justice and strenghtens the responsibility of civil societies.

The HAND IN HAND fund was initiated in 1998 as a joint initiative of Rapunzel Naturkost and the German Environmental Aid (DUH). The fund was an outcome of the HAND IN HAND fair trade program of the organic food pioneer who still donates most of the financial means to the fund. Today, the HAND IN HAND fund can look back on more than 20 successful years. Since the time when the fund was initiated, almost 1.8 million Euro werde given to 379 projects in 58 countries.

Worldwide help for self-help

Sustainable quinoa cultivation in the Andes

ECOTOP is one of the project organizations that received funding in 2019. ECOTOP provides counselling and project support in substainable agroforestry. With the support of the HAND IN HAND fund, the organization now started a project for sustainable quinoa cultivation on the Bolivian high planes. Organic and fair trade dramatically increased the demand for this cultural plant on the international market. The quinoa boom resulted in Bolivia in significant soil problems. With trainings and demonstration fields for farmers, ECOTOP wants to promote environmentally-sound cultivation methods.

First successes: demonstration field for water-conserving agroforestry in India

Another project that received funding this year is a demonstration farm with training center in Southern India. In that region, the groundwater resources have been excessively exploited by intensive agriculture and periods of drought cause massive problems.

The Indian MORE organization speaks to small peasant farmers and provides them with know-how in agroforestry and water management. On their own farm, the NGO shows how to collect rainwater for crop irrigation.

'GoldHaus' in Ghana – environmentally-friendly composting toilets

Succeed in Ghana e.v. deals with an everyday problem. The GoldHaus project focuses on composting toilets. GoldHaus is environmentally-friendly and addresses the tabu topic in a charming way: the mobile and attractively decorated toilets are used at festivals and other events. After composting, the feces are used as fertilizer for agriculture - a consequential and resource-conserving closed-loop economy. Succeed in Ghana e.V. wants to expand the awareness campaign and build additional composting toilets.

Funded projects 2019

Project	Country	Description	Funding amount
Naturefund e.V.	Burkina Faso	Development of the Nafagaz pyro cooker for biogenic residual waste	5,000 EUR
Bujugo Primary Cooperative Society	Tanzania	Tree schools and beekeeping, Bujugo	5,000 EUR
YOOW e.V.	Malawi	Solar power for the Chiuno Cultural Center	5,000 EUR
Fundacion Corcovado	Costa Rica	Protection of sea turtles, "Mama Carey", Península de Osa	4,400 EUR
OTEPIC	Kenia	Beekeeping	5,000 EUR
End Poverty	India	Fruit trees for peasants	5,000 EUR
ISC Konstanz	India	SUNI 4: education programs on water and energy saving for school children and teens	5,000 EUR
Association Akabar	Morocco	Preserving traditional knowledge of medicinal herbs	3,800 EUR
Log-Ikwo in Kamerun Nachhaltig e.V.	Cameroon	Solar power plant for HANDIPLUS-Center, a sewing workshop for physically handicapped people	5,000 EUR
Where Rainbows Meet	South Africa	Sewing and craft, women's project	3,500 EUR
Sekem for Land Reclamation (SLR)	Egypt	Date pit mill (for the preparation of animal feed)	5,000 EUR
Eat to fight your disease e.V.	Ruanda	Irrigation system for the cultivated plot of a hospital	1,600 EUR
Die Ofenmacher e.V.	Nepal	Construction of clay ovens in the Lamjung district	5,000 EUR
Nomadenhilfe e.V.	Bhutan	Water and clean energy for the rural population in Tsirang	5,000 EUR
Aktionsgemeinschaft Artenschutz (AGA) e.V.	Namibia	Cheetah protection, development of a farmer's manual on human-wild animal conflicts	3,700 EUR
ACTNGONO	Tanzania	Income and food for 50 HIV infected women	5,000 EUR
ZOFVA	Ghana	Field schools for participatory guarantee systems as a first step towards organic cultivation	2,500 EUR
SOCEO gGmbH	Congo	Sustainable income through entrepreneurship	5,000 EUR
SWAGEN	Uganda	Waste projects: development of organic waste briquettes	5,000 EUR
Pfarrei St. Joseph Mukasa	Benin	Mucuna cultivation and rabbit breeding, Bétérou	3,700 EUR
EMACE Foundation	Sri Lanka	Mangrove protection and apiculture	5,000 EUR
OroVerde	Guatemala	Improved living conditions for small peasant families and forest protection	5,000 EUR
Global Seed Savers	Philippines	Protection and domestic seed reproduction through local farmers	5,000 EUR
Sencab e.V.	Ghana	Training women in mango cultivation and fair trade, Agomeda (continuation)	900 EUR
Hekima Girls' Secondary School	Tanzania	Protecting land and forest against fire and land grabbing	3,000 EUR
Coopérative Yiwalo	Burkina Faso	Well drilling on new production area	5,000 EUR
Hekima Girls' Secondary School	Tanzania	Repair of classrooms and school rooms (continuation)	10,500 EUR
ANAS, Organic Agriculture Reg. Experimental and Recource Center	Azerbaijan	Development of organic farming and protection of soil health	5,000 EUR
Marafiki wa Afrika e.V.	Tanzania	Construction of a drinking water tank for Mavuno	5,000 EUR
Flüchtlingshilfe Mittelamerika e.V.	El Salvador	Environmental education for pupils in national parks/reserves	4,400 EUR
Foundation for Women in Development-Rwenzori (FOWID-R)	Uganda	Cultivation of organic vegetables for female peasants, Kasese	3,500 EUR
Rural Disabled Women Association (RUDIWA)	Uganda	Women's project with sustainable coal briquettes, Bundibugyo	2,700 EUR
ECOTOP	Bolivia	Cultivation of quinoa in an agroforestry system, Altiplano Sur	5,000 EUR
MORE (Movement for Rural Emancipation)	India	Rainwater utilization for the Toranam project/Southern India	5,000 EUR
Practical Permaculture Institute Zanzibar (PPIZ)	Tanzania	Kipepeo – help for self-help for female eco-entrepreneurs, Zanzibar	5,000 EUR
Succeed in Ghana e.V.	Ghana	GoldHaus – introduction of composting toilets	5,000 EUR
Weltweit e.V.	Tanzania	Protection of coastal forests through plantings and apiculture	4,600 EUR
Sekem for Land Reclamation SLR	Egypt	Pilot production of the Trichogamma bio-pesticide	5,000 EUR
Long Yang e.V.	Nepal	Trees for Suntakhan	4,800 EUR
Women and Children Protection WCP	DR Congo	Soap production for girls/women in the pygmy community of Bwegera/Uvira	5,000 EUR
Women and Children Protection WCP	DR Congo	Construction of school gardens/awareness-raising campaign for Artemisia annua	5,000 EUR