Annual Report 2008 / 2009

... but the righteous shall flourish as a branch

The current international economic crisis has caused us to lose sight of the lives of people living in the world's poorer countries. This in turn has created even greater hardship for them. Examples of this year annual report show how deeply our lives and our economies impact the lives and livelihoods of people in other parts of the world.
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New Book

Genetic Engineering and Food Sovereignty

Reader on studies and experiences of partners and EED seconded professionals overseas: Sustainable agriculture is the only option to feed the world.
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Who feeds the world?

Three stories from Tanzania, Indonesia and Brazil.

Farmers of three countries refuse to get into debts and instead remember their traditional knowledge, which has been handed down from generation to generation. Innovative and versatile, they secure sustainable harvests, develop their own markets and contribute to the conservation of the environment.

This page in: DE | FR | ES

Latin America

Democracy and the Rule of Law: Key Requirements for Sustainable and Peaceful Development.

EED supports partners in the countries marked above in blue.

Latin America is the region of the world most marked by social inequalities. The socially weak and disadvantaged groups of the population, which often includes indigenous peoples, are particular victims of this situation. These groups are excluded from the development processes. This phenomenon, which is called "exclusión social” (social exclusion) is the catalyst for processes of exploitation, suppression and inequality. These processes destroy the social relationships in the societies and lead to social apartheid and an increase in violence.

That is why “Democratisation of political decision-making processes", "Participation of the excluded" and "Development dynamics from decentralisation" are central elements in the work of EED with its partners in Latin America. On the one hand, they are respected in concrete work at project level, for example, by including disadvantaged groups of the population in designing the project. On the other hand, they are essential in the question of how partners can help the poor and disadvantaged to be heard at social level.

Sustainable Development of Rural Areas – A Focus of EED Work in Latin America

In future, poverty reduction in Latin America will continue to be a task for rural and agricultural development. Even today, on this continent most poor people live in rural regions, in spite of urbanisation and industrialisation.

The focus of cooperation between EED and its partners therefore takes effect at the local level in rural areas and aims to make a concrete improvement to the living conditions of the poor population. A broad spectrum of measures is encouraged:

Establishing rural community systems and self-help organisations
Supporting ecologically oriented sustainable agricultural and forestry production as well as fisheries
Promoting sustainable resource management and protecting the natural foundations in rural areas, including water
Establishing and promoting service systems, such as counselling, marketing, procurement and sales organisation, financial services.

The majority of partner organisation systematise experience from local work and input the findings in a second level that is called “lobbying” or “political influence”.

As a supplement to this, some partner organisations cooperate in consortia or networks at regional or national level. They work together with other relevant social players with the aim of changing political, institutional and legal conditions.

Finally, EED cooperates at a third level with supra-regional initiatives and networks that work throughout the continent or event the world; on the basis of systemised experience of the work of their member organisations they also work towards the general conditions for development being changed. Many of our partner organisations are incorporated in this network work.

Cooperation in Partnership

The work of EED and its partners in Latin America is embedded in every more complex processes. Debates about alternative and sustainable development routes and social change take place over very long periods and involve ever changing players. A great deal of patience is required if participatory politics is to be shaped by the forces of civil society.

That is why long-term thinking and transparency are key elements in the cooperation between EED and its partners. Only in this way can a relationship based on trust be built up between EED and its partners, as well as between the partner organisations and their target groups; this relationship is an important basis for successful work.