SEKEM Report 2020 Launched

Egypt, like other countries in the world, has to deal with the negative impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on people’s health, and we took all precautions necessary to provide a safe work environment and build awareness around it. Regardless of the painful experiences we as humankind or individual people have gone through, we also believe in a chance to wake up and leave unsustainable ways of doing business and dealing with nature behind us. Fortunately, SEKEM was able to show resilience and continuity in both business and community service. Even though the pandemic has left its mark on the economy, SEKEM was able to almost meet its budget for the year and finalized and signed the financial restructuring with its

international lenders.

We are happy to see that our sustainability performance is showing positive results, such as a decoupling of our packaging material consumption, waste production, and energy consumption from our production volume. Also, SEKEM remains overall a carbon positive endeavor and hence contributes towards mitigating climate change. Furthermore, SEKEM has been working on its SEKEM Vision Goals for Egypt 2057 (SVG), focusing on Greening the Desert (SVG#5) and herewith, the development of the SEKEM-Wahat farm in the Western desert. A total of eight pivots are up and running now and crops are growing underneath with great quality. A roman theater has been built and inaugurated at the SEKEM-Wahat farm and two families are living at the spot now with their kids being in a school at the site. The Economy of Love (EoL) (SVG#11) label has been further developed and implemented and the first set of products is certified now and in the market. In terms of Integrative Health (SVG#3), a task force has been created and a center for integrative health has been opened at Heliopolis University. Also, the topic of Ethical Finance (SVG#12) has been fostered this year and a team has been created based at Heliopolis University, which is researching the topic and implementing a micro-finance project for which funds could have already been secured.

In this report, we continue to set the example for transparency on our activities, hoping to inform and inspire our stakeholders and other sustainable development initiatives in Egypt and the world.

Read the SEKEM Report 2020 here!