Organic Farming on the Sinai Peninsula

Who Would Have Expected This?

 

 

According to Al-Monitor, The Pulse of the Middle East, the daily newsletter summarizing reports from Middle Eastern nations, including Israel, the southern Sinai Peninsula--once a thriving tourist resort, surrounded by stretches of dry desert--is now dotted with world-class organic farms.

 

These farms, that continue to expand, supply vegetables and herbs for both locals and tourists in the Red Sea towns of Taba, Nuweiba, Dehab, and Sharm El-Sheikh.

 

How Did This Happen?

 

After the January 25, 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's multi-billion dollar tourism sector plunged, suffering 90% losses.  Earlier,  in 2007, Maged El-Said, a tourism investor living and operating in South Sinai since 1989, had decided to start an organic farm.  Although he raked in millions of dollars from tourism investments, he was dissatisfied, wanting a sustainable, environmentally friendly business.  People thought him crazy for attempting such a venture.

 

He noted that during the Israeli occupation of the Sinai the Israeli government had developed a 400-acre agricultural estate--presently, its irrigation system in ruins and thousands of trees dying.  Nevertheless, from this Israeli farm produce was exported, even flowers to The Netherlands.

 

 

A Model Organic Farm Transforming the South Sinai Region

 

Habiba Organic Farm, El-Said's two-acres in Nuweiba, a Red Sea town 40 miles from the Israeli border, with the help of universities and NGO partnerships, now serves as a model for Egypt's South Sinai.  The farm demonstrates how an entire region can transform itself via sound organic farming practices in the desert.

 

 

A Demeter-Certified Biodynamic Farm

 

 

 

In 2012, the Habiba Organic Farm (HOF) began selling its organic products as Demeter-certified.  Demeter International is the certification organization for biodynamic agriculture and a top organic certifier worldwide.  The farm was officially registered with the Egyptian Center of Organic Agriculture and declared one of the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

 

 

Developing a Self-Sustaining Society

 

A regional organism develops where



 

• Crops can be used to feed cattle and chickens on neighboring farms
• A free-range chicken farm supplies neighboring farms with chicken excrement to use as organic fertilizer

 

El-Said that others now see the wisdom of organic farming.  Eniz Eneizan, a powerful leader of the Tarabyn tribe in South Sinai, has turned his farms organic.  El-Said says,

 

But our major success was seeing the tribal leaders of South Sinai adopt the idea and open their lands to it.

 

An Organic Community

 

Blooms in the Desert

 

May Many More Bloom in Deserts Throughout the World

 

 

And in Your Neighborhood!

 

 

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Organic Food Has Only One Truly GLOBAL Organization!

Demeter International--The Preeminent Organic Certifier

 

 

Demeter International, the organization that certifies the biodynamic agricultural method, oversees  a certification program established in Germany in 1928--the first ecological label for organically produced food!  Today, Demeter has some 4,500 members, 1,400 of them in Germany.

 

Difficult to Earn

 

The Demeter certification, the oldest, traditional organic certification in Europe, regarded as the highest grade of organic farming in the world, is hard to come by and must be renewed annually.

 

Demeter Standards

 

In over 50 countries, Demeter verifies that biodynamic produce meets its standards in production and processing.  These Standards include:

 

• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem preservation
• Soil husbandry
• Livestock integration
• Prohibition of genetically engineered organisms (GMOs)
• Viewing the farm as a living "holistic organism"

 

Economic Rewards to Farmers

 

Because organic food consumers value the high quality of produce bearing the "Demeter" label, biodynamically certified farmers earn an average of 10-30% more for their produce. 

 

 

Brief History

 

Demeter grew out of a cooperative for processing biodynamical agricultural products in Berlin, Germany in 1927.  The Demeter trademark was registered in 1928.  

 

In 1941, however, the Nazi government dissolved the Union for biodynamic agriculture; but, the Union was reestablished in Germany after World War II ended.

 

In 1997, 19 independent Demeter organizations, representing all continents, united to form Demeter International.

 

Consult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demeter_Internationalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demeter_International

and http://www.demeter.net 

 

May Demeter and Biodynamic Agriculture

Continue to Thrive

and Transform the

World of Organic Food!

 

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A Worldwide Organic Food Standard

Demeter International--Certifying Organic Food Since 1928

 

 

The Demeter certification program, established in Germany in 1928, is the earliest label for organically produced foods.

 

The name Demeter refers to the Greek goddess of grain and fertility.  Demeter Biodynamic Certification, now used in over 50 countries, verifies that biodynamic products meet Demeter's stringent production and processing standards.

 

 

The Highest of All Organic Food Standards

 

These standards require biodiversity and preservation and enhancement of the ecosystem.  Biodynamic farmers view farms as living, holistic organisms.  Consequently, they pay utmost attention to soil husbandry, livestock integration, and prohibit genetically engineered organisms.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demeter_International and http://www.demeter-usa.org.

 

Biodynamics and Demeter

 

"Biodynamics is a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, food production and nutrition," according to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.  Demeter certification is the certification method validating this approach.  Demeter and biodynamics go hand to hand.

 

The Association encapsulates its history and then provides an example of its global reach:

 

"Biodynamics was first developed in the early 1920s based on the spiritual insights and practical suggestions of the Austrian, writer, educator and social activist Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), whose philosophy is called "anthroposophy."  Today, the biodynamic movement encompasses thousands of successful gardens, farms, vineyards, and and agricultural operations, in a wide variety of ecological and economic settings."

 

Biodynamics and Demeter have Even Reached China!

 

Weihe Hu reported (January 31, 2013) about a ten-day seminar on biodynamic and organic agriculture held September 19-28, 2012, on a biodynamic farm in Beijing (Phoenix Hill Commune).  The farm is the first, and so far the only, Demeter-certified farm in China.  "The seminar, which was organized by the Demeter China Association and Phoenix Hill Commune, consisted of three parts: a biodynamic training course lasting six days, a two-day forum on the management of organic farms and green marketing, and a two-day tour of organic farms in the Beijing region."  See https://www.biodynamics.com