Member: SEKEM (aka Egyptian Biodynamic Association),

Location: Egypt

Size: 12,000 ha

Type of intervention: Sustainable agriculture (soil carbon)

The Economy of Love (EoL) Carbon Credit program, developed and owned by the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA) and inspired by SEKEM, has been further developed from a certification standard to a carbon credit initiative focussed on rewarding smallholder farmers for their environmental service. 

The EoL Carbon Credit program was launched at COP 27 under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Environment, with support from UNDP Egypt. By implementing the EoL standard, farmers actively contribute to carbon sequestration through afforestation projects and soil carbon enhancement. Additionally, farmers can mitigate methane and CO2 emissions by engaging in compost production and adopting renewable energy practices. Participating smallholder farmers receive an additional income stream from EoL carbon credits.

In the year and a half since its launch, EoL had scaled the intervention to 5,000, aiming for 40,000 participating farmers in 2025. In rolling out the standard, EoL has observed that some farmers struggle with process and opportunity costs related to time-intensive MRV. A grant from CASH will support efforts to identify mechanisms for streamlining measurement and reporting by farmers, and data collection by EoL to support a streamlining process. The grant will also support the development of a case study documenting EoL’s experience and lessons learned through establishing and implementing a standard and carbon project.

Current Status

The Minia Group Project located in Minia Governorate, spans a surface area of 758.5 feddans, the entirety of which was reclaimed with 12,223 trees planted and 2,865 tons of CO2 sequestered. The project boundary aims to green the desert through afforestation and desert reclamation. This reclamation has been achieved through using biodynamic agricultural practices. 

The six-year DOC trial investigated the impact of different farming systems — Biodynamic, Organic, and Conventional—on maize and fava bean yields. The results have been highly promising and very revealing about the sustained and broader positive impact of biodynamic and organic methods.

• Biodynamic and Organic methods began to outperform Conventional practices after three years even while chemical fertilizers resulted in higher yields initially for both crops, 
• Biodynamic and Organic farming systems sequester more carbon in the soil compared to Conventional methods. 
• Biodynamic farming showing a slight increase in net return due to higher yields and carbon credits but overall economic analysis from the trial revealed minimal financial differences between the farming systems.

A detailed report with the project findings is expected to be published shortly.