Locally, the bioRe Foundation carries out its agricultural and social projects in co-operation with its partner organisations in India and Tanzania. The bioRe organisations on site were built up over many years. They perform their work in direct contact with the farming families. Regular exchanges and practical partnership constitute a solid basis for the Foundation’s work.
India, bioRe Association India
The bioRe Association of farmers was established in 2003. The association managed by farmers promotes organic farming and social infrastructure in local communities. The farmers’ chairman and the management of the association are in partnership-based dialogue with the farmers, jointly trying to find solutions for the farming families’ most pressing problems. Farmers may make requests and personally participate in projects to the extent possible. The association promotes schools and health projects and conducts major research projects for organic farming that produce new findings on a regular basis.
In its social and agricultural activities, the bioRe Association is supported primarily by the bioRe Foundation of Switzerland.
Project managers on site:
- Aashish Joshi, bioRe Association India
- Madhav Patidar, Chairman of the bioRe Association India
Tansania, bioRe Foundation Tanzania
The bioRe Foundation of Tanzania was established in 2011. It operates in Mwamishali-Meatu. Its main objectives are to offer training in the field of organic and biodynamic farming, to develop social infrastructure, and to support programmes for the development of farming communities, in particular in the fields of water, energy, health, agriculture, biodiversity, education, and nutrition.
Many villages do not have access to drinking-water. This is where the bioRe Foundation of Tanzania provides help in the form of building wells and tanks collecting rainwater. A number of other activities are designed to provide relief and improve the farming families’ quality of life, e.g. construction of smokefree stoves that protect the families’ health and prevent deforestation as they require considerably less firewood, which in turn benefits the groundwater level. Climate change and the unpredictable weather conditions and long periods of drought related to it are a permanent challenge for the farmers in the region. The bioRe Foundation of Tanzania strives to provide access to additional sources of income so as to increase the farming families’ resistance and resilience in the face of natural catastrophes. Furthermore, it is committed to protecting soil.
The social and agricultural activities of the bioRe Foundation of Tanzania are supported exclusively by the bioRe Foundation of Switzerland.
Project manager on site:
- Justina Samson, bioRe Foundation Tanzania
Switzerland, Coop
In 1997, Swiss retailer Coop established the bioRe Foundation together with Remei AG. Building up the Naturaline textile collection from bioRe organic cotton, Coop has become the most significant customer for bioRe organic-cotton textiles.
Coop supports the bioRe Foundation’s agricultural and social projects with organic-farming families in India and Tanzania through the Coop sustainability fund.
With its substantial contributions, Coop makes possible a large number of the bioRe Foundation’s projects, such as development of non-GMO seeds, medical services for farming communities on fair terms, school infrastructure in villages, access to drinking-water, and food security, to name just a few. The many years of partnership-based co-operation with the Coop sustainability fund have led to noticeable improvements in both the production of organic cotton and the lives of farming families.