Helping where governmental support is hardly available

In 2020, the HAND IN HAND fund supports 39 ecosocial projects around the world

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

The HAND IN HAND fund – a joint initiative of Rapunzel Naturkost and the German Environmental Aid (DUH) – supports projects of people in the global South who get barely any governmental aid. In 2020, sustainable agriculture and water management were once more the most frequently recurring themes. But the HAND IN HAND fund also supported several solar projects and many projects with ecological and social orientation. Additionally, the fund also provided Covid emergency aid for immediate measures to several well-established partners.

In Africa, Latin America and Asia the fund supported 39 projects in 2020 with a total sum of 170,000 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 1.9 million Euro were given to 428 projects in 64 countries.

Bringing together social progress, environmental solutions and economic perspectives

Vivamos Mejor Guatemala

Biocultural corridor in the chain of volcanoes at Atitlán lake, Guatemala

At the Atitlán lake in Guatemala, a project of the Global Nature Fund (GNF) focuses on forest protection and the improvement of the living conditions of indigenous communities. The project builds upon three pillars of sustainability. Firstly, the measures include the education and training of stakeholders with respect to climate change and biodiversity issues. Secondly, the locals obtain important ecosystem services through forest protection measures and the focus on reforestation. Finally, the project aims at improving the economic situation of the indigenous communities by supporting and improving traditional cultivation systems and by creating alternative sources of income.

The HAND IN HAND fund supports the project with 5,000 Euro that are spend for training and education, for energy-efficient ovens and for tree seedlings.

Annika Hertel / Life-Giving Forest e.V.

Inclusion, reforestation and organic farming are the principles of the HIDEPAC cooperative

Initially supported by the Life Giving Forest e.V. in 2017, disabled people from the Hindang village founded a cooperative (HIPEDAC) in organic agriculture. This was their way to escape poverty that is especially challenging for disabled people in the Philippines. The project also focuses on the development of self confidence and a sustainable, future-proof interaction between man and environment. Due to the clearing of the Philippine rain forests in the past, soils have hardly any nutrients and natural catastrophes have devastating effects. The HIPEDAC cooperative counteracts this with reforestation and organic farming.

The HAND IN HAND fund gave 5,000 Euro to the cooperative for training in organic agriculture and the construction of handicapped-accessible paths.

Wunschträume e.V.

Burkina Faso: a well allows a women's group the cultivation of vegetables

Wunschträume Netzwerk für Mädchen- und Frauenprojekte e.V. supports a women's group in Burkina Faso. Nearly 60 women grow vegetables on one hectare of land. The women sell the harvested products. This improves the economic and the social position of the women. In 2018, a well with hand-operated pump was installed for irrigation of the garden. In order to improve their yields, the women's group and Wunschträume e.V. built a water reservoir with a solar pump in addition to the existing well. The NGO plans to support several other projects in the region. Planned are trainings in vegetable farming, but also trainings in soap making and weaving, commercial education as well as literacy projects.

The HAND IN HAND fund supported the construction of the water reservoir and the solar pump with 5,000 Euro.

Funded projects 2020

Project	Country	Description	Funding amount
ECOTOP	Bolivia	Training program for a dynamic agroforestry project in the Alto Beni region	5,000 EUR
OTEPIC	Kenya	Permaculture for children	5,000 EUR
OTEPIC	Kenya	Corona aid for Mitume slums	3,000 EUR
Weltweit e.V.	Mozambique	Developing strategies against soil salinization in vegetable farming	4,000 EUR
Life Giving Forest e.V.	Philippines	Training in organic farming and handicapped-accessible paths, Hindang farm	5,000 EUR
Life Giving Forest e.V.	Philippines	Repair of storm damage, rain water collection, tree nursery	5,000 EUR
GWEFODE	Uganda	Rain water collection, Rubanda	5,000 EUR
Arbeitskreis Brot für die Welt TIKATO		Organic vegetable farming in the Ladiou village, training for women	5,000 EUR
OroVerde	Guatemala	App for the rainforest – digitalized monitoring	5,000 EUR
Deutsch-Indische Zusammenarbeit e.V. (DIZ)	India	Extension of a model farm, support for peasants	4,600 EUR
Moyo Wangu Kenya e.V.	Kenya	Expansion of an environmental center, Msumarini	5,000 EUR
Make Me Smile International	Kenya	Improving the health of HIV infected children with vertical gardens	5,000 EUR
ACOREMA	Peru	Protection of indigenous dolphins	4,800 EUR
SAMEoceans gUG	Indonesia	No Plastic in the ocean! Zero Waste campaign in schools	5,000 EUR
Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (YWISD)	Uganda	Water tanks and filtration for improved hygiene at a school	3,000 EUR
AMAF-BENIN	Benin	Protection of Manatis and mangroves, Ouémé valley	5,000 EUR
Nueva Florida	Bolivia	Construction of a storage house for organic cocoa beans	5,000 EUR
Wunschträume Netzwerk für Mädchen - und Frauenprojekte e.V.	Burkina Faso	Water reservoir and solar pump as a supplement for an existing well	5,000 EUR
LOVE FOR LIFE e.V.	Costa Rica	Renewable energy for the indigenous Cabécar people	5,000 EUR
AVEVENA	DR Congo	Solar power plant for maternity ward	3,700 EUR
Jawahar Rural People's Development Organisation (JRPDO)	India	Poultry raising and health care for poor families, Tamilnadu	4,900 EUR
IDEP Foundation	Indonesia	Forest protection through municipal agroforestry, Western Bali	5,000 EUR
21 Krumhuk for AgriCulture and Social Development	Namibia	Prevention of erosion and water loss on grazing land	925 EUR
Integrated Development for marginalized community (IDMC)	Uganda	Bee-elephant project, Kasese	5,000 EUR
Flüchtlingshilfe Mittelamerika e.V.	El Salvador	Environenmental education and recycling, Mejicanos	4,800 EUR
Remote Energy	Kenya	Support for solar teachers	5,000 EUR
Human Rights Disability and Development Organisation HDDO	Uganda	Pigs and rabbits as source of income , Kabale	4,500 EUR
ASOMUCARE	Colombia	Small enterprises for women (bamboo packaging, tailoring, medicinal oils)	3,000 EUR
Serendipalm	Ghana	Corona emergency aid for communal members in Asuom	5,000 EUR
Initiative for Right View	Bangladesh	Corona emergency aid and aid for damage due to cyclone Amphan	3,000 EUR
Elephant-Human Relationship (EHRA)	Namibia	Emergency aid in the Corona crisis	3,000 EUR
Fundación Corcovado	Costa Rica	Help for sea turtles due to Corona crisis	3,000 EUR
AWARE Germany e.V.	Simbabwe	Training program for the protection of nature and biodiversity in the area of the Chipinge reservation	5,000 EUR
Karuna Deutschland e.V.	India	Solar thermal energy and vegetable garden for girls' home	4,750 EUR
Marafiki wa Afrika e.V.	Tanzania	Construction of a water storage tank in Kagera	5,000 EUR
Charité Togo e.V.	Togo	Construction of a drinking water well in Sandal Kopé	5,000 EUR
Madamfo Ghana e.V.	Ghana	Communal beekeeping for Apewu	4,750 EUR
ACDES	El Salvador	Organic vegetable farming and poultry farming for women in the Montecristo national park	3,500 EUR
Global Nature Fund	Guatemala	Forest protection and improvement of living conditions of the indigenous population near the Atitlán Lake	5,000 EUR
Cooperativa Manduvirá Ltda	Paraguay	Water supply for tree nursery of the cooperative	5,000 EUR