Rapunzel awards BioVision with 25.000 Euro

The main prize of 25,000 euros was won by Hans Herren and Rachel Agola. It was presented to them by Josef Wilhelm in recognition of their outstanding achievements for people and the environment. Four other prize winners were each awarded 2,000 euros at the prize-giving ceremony held on 17 September 2010 at the Rapunzel headquarters in Legau in the Allgäu. The audience showed great appreciation and liking for the exemplary projects. With great wit and charm, Kika-presenter Malte Arkona was the compere for the exciting evening. A good 800 guests, including many wholefood shop owners, Rapunzel employees and suppliers followed with great interest the speeches and the musical interludes. (Picture: in the centre Rachel Agola and Hans Herren receiving their award) ALL PICTURES CAN BE ENLARGED WITH A DOUBLE CLICK
“You’re allowed to stamp your feet as well,” smiled Arkona mischievously when the first ovation came from the audience. “Just like on television” was the maxim, and that raised the importance of the evening even further. Clapping, whistling, cheering – they were all allowed anyway. People needed no encouragement to show their enthusiasm, because many in the audience already knew the award winners. Vandana Shiva (picture), the charismatic Indian, won the hearts of everybody present when she railed against the genetic engineering industry and spoke about more than 200,000 suicides among Indian farmers who had fallen into the debt trap created by GM seeds.

At the beginning of the event, the compere got the audience laughing when he speculated on the various possible meanings of a big painted cardboard H with a long yellow plait. He went through a number of possibilities, with the most probable being the “Hero of Muesli” – his way of introducing Joseph Wilhelm, the founder of the award (pictured with his two-year-old grandson Julian). Arkona explained how Wilhelm, with his former wife Jennifer, began by mixing muesli at home in the bath tub, which was the start of everything.

The jury who chose the award winners consisted of four people: Vandana Shiva, Tewolde Egziabher, Roberto Ugas and Josef Wilhelm. The chairman of the jury was Bernward Geier from Colabora. Over six weeks he visited all five contestants in their own countries to compile a project description. A detailed, illustrated brochure, that had a huge print run of 20,000 copies, pays tribute to the achievements and commitment of the five finalists. Josef Wilhelm thanked the film maker George Eicher, who had the idea of this award , and the artist Dao Droste, who created the figurine. (Picture on left: Welcome to the Rapunzel Festival 2010)

Everyone waited excitedly for the announcement of the OWA winner. First, the finalists were introduced who were awarded 2,000 euros each. Beti Minkin, who created the Anatolia Foundation in Turkey, was delighted with the recognition of her achievements. Her project combines the protection of old plant varieties in Turkey with the production of organic food. (Picture on right: Beti Minkin from the Anatolian Foundation)

There was wild applause as awards were given to EL CEIBO (picture below on left), an association of 1,200 organic cocoa farmers in Bolivia, Helmy Abouleish, the director of the Sekem Group in Cairo/Egypt and Franziska Kaguembega-Müller, the co-founder of the Swiss organization newTree. Then Dr. Vandana Shiva from India spoke again: “The jury had to make an agonizing choice. We looked at 29 excellent applications from Peru to Laos. All give globalization a chance. All are working for a future worth living in. But in the end we came to a decision – in favour of a success story that is a symbol of how to build a bridge between the north and the south, without bricks but just with scientific innovation, individual initiative in the front line and a holistic approach.” Together Vandana Shiva and Joseph Wilhelm handed the hand-crafted OWA statue and a cheque for 25,000 euros – donated by Rapunzel – to the Swiss insect researcher Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren and the Kenyan farmer Rachel Agola (picture top right).

Hans Rudolf Herren launched the foundation Biovision in 1998 in Switzerland with the aim of improving long-term the lives of people in Africa. The project focuses, among other things, on malaria prophylaxis, building up an information network for small farmers and the dissemination of the “push-pull” method of pest control on maize. In her village called Yenga, Rachel Agola is responsible for the push-pull farmers’ self-help group that was formed to pass on new agricultural technology to other farmers. Deeply moved, she received the award and expressed her thanks: “I stand here as the representative of all small farmers in Africa and would like to thank Biovision in particular. It has helped us to secure our livelihood because, by increasing the yield of maize by three to four times, we can finally combat hunger in our country.” Dr. Herren added: “It is an honour to receive this award for work that is for us a matter of course, because we have set ourselves the goal of creating a world that is worth living in for future generations too.” (Picture: Rachel Agola and Hans Herren)

The 88-year-old Bhaskar Save from India was awarded a prize for his life’s work (picture: Save sitting between the artist Dao Droste and his biographer). “He developed a counter-strategy to the green revolution and trained three generations of organic farmers in India,” explained Markus Arbenz, CEO of the IFOAM. Bhaskar Save can be called the father of organic agriculture in India. Without him, it would be inconceivable that India is the country with the most organic farmers (around 340,000). The prize to honour “Very Impacting People” (VIP) was awarded to the Kenyan Wangari Matu Maathai, who had intended to come but was indisposed.

“Good weather and Percy Schmeiser into the bargain!” that was how a wholefood store owner summed up the day as he left the Rapunzel One-World-Festival around 18.00. In contrast to the festival two years ago, when it was cold and wet, there was no lack of sunshine this time round. A lot more stands than last time offered regional craft artifacts like jewellery and wooden products, alpaca pullovers, baskets, clothing and much more besides. The organic inspection and farmers organization Naturland provided information on the new fair trade certification, Solarworld on photovoltaic equipment, and an electric car salesman displayed his vehicles. Rapunzel’s cooperation projects were located between the shelving units in the main building, with the project in Turkey in the forefront, since it was the company’s first project abroad. Burkinature in Burkina Faso and projects in Sri Lanka and Latin America were also represented.

People also flocked to the good 200 m² organic supermarket on the Rapunzel site and an open-air sale. There was a throng of people buying Rapunzel products (picture on right). Once again, there were lots of activities for the younger generation: a bouncy castle, a climbing frame, bungee jumping, a little roundabout and the traditional big merry-go-round.

Thanks to the OWA award ceremony, there had never been as many organic celebs in Legau at any one time as at this festival. So the event featuring Hans Herren (Biovision), Helmy Abouleish (Sekem), Vandana Shiva, Beti Minkin (Anatolian Foundation) and Percy Schmeiser attracted a lot of people. Anita Idel gave information on the World Agriculture Report, Michael Grolm spoke about bees and genetic engineering, and Anusati Thumm about Primavera. A samba band, that performed several times in the inner courtyard, created the right atmosphere (picture).

Rapunzel creates a distinctive profile with its projects, and one of them is the Hand-in-Hand-Fund. The company makes a voluntary contribution of
1 % of the turnover of raw materials from third world countries that is paid into a fund administered by Deutsche Umwelthilfe. Last year it came to 85,000 euros, which was the highest amount in a single year. From 1998 to the middle of 2010 a total of 460,000 euros have gone to 112 projects in 30 countries. Of more than 400 products in the Rapunzel brand, over 80 carry the Hand-in-Hand logo. The fund receives 80 % from the turnover of raw materials and 20 % from other companies and private donations.

As stated in Rapunzel’s annual report, last year the company achieved a turnover of 107 million euros. The annual surplus was 3.9 million euros, and in 2010 a turnover of 109 million euros is anticipated. The macro-economic situation is not regarded as particularly promising. In the annual report the managing director Joseph Wilhelm stated: “Unfortunately, the general conditions for the Rapunzel brand, our core business, are strongly influenced in the specialist trade by the strategies of the two biggest players who shape the market, namely Alnatura and denn’s, and by their dominating presence on the shelves and their strong own-brand policy in their stores.” And at Rapunzel, they have no great expectations of the brand designed for the conventional trade, Bio-Gourmet, that in 2009 achieved a turnover of just under 23 million euros.

(Picture on left: “Here you can see what good products come from organic farming,” says Helmy Abouleish with a grin as he buys organic ice cream. Picture below on right: Children involved in the organization Plant for the Planet say thank you to Vandana Shiva for the work she does for the younger generation)

Tip:
To order the highly recommended OWA brochure in German or English write to:

karin.tworuschka@rapunzel.de

 

www.rapunzel.de, www.one-world-award.de