Rapunzel: 1.4 million euros for eco-social initiatives

The German organic manufacturer Rapunzel Naturkost and the German environment organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe have been offering the Hand-in-Hand Fund for 20 years. During this time, almost 330 eco-social projects in 55 countries were supported with unbureaucratic help for self-help.

So far, 1.4 million euros have been invested in eco-social projects in the countries of the global South - 170,000 € in 2017 alone. Since its foundation 20 years ago, 327 projects and initiatives have benefited from the donations. Most of the money is donated by Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH, which founded this fund in 1998 together with Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH). Since then, 100% of the money has been invested in pros such as agroforestry in Peru, microcredits in the Congo or the promotion of organic agriculture in an integrative institution in the Philippines.

The fair trade program

Rapunzel founded the fair trade program Hand-in-Hand, which also includes an additional fair trade bonus for the supplier partners, at the beginning of the 1990s. As a result, an increasing number of requests for support came from the supplier countries. Rapunzel set up the hand-in-hand fund. "We have thus created the opportunity to promote meaningful initiatives in the countries of origin that are also independent of suppliers," explains Joseph Wilhelm, founder and managing director of Rapunzel Naturkost. The prerequisite is a qualified application from a non-profit organization and proof that the funds are reaching 100 percent of the right place.

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