News
Meeting of the Dreyer Foundation’s Board and executives in Burkina Faso December 2023
Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer (Board) traveled to Quagadougou in December to meet with Dr. Laurent Sedogo (Board) and other managers of the Foundation as well as the head of the central cooperative and further staff. They discussed the status of the current rice harvest as well as the Foundation's overall work and priorities in Dano. The joint decision was taken that the agricultural rice project in particular, with the development of the rice value chain in the south-west of Burkina Faso, had reached a level of maturity that would allow a gradual handover of all activities and investments of the Dreyer Foundation to the farmers' cooperative and Burkinabe players from the food industry in 2024. The implementation of this decision is part of the work program for 2024, which will also be one of the topics at the next meeting of the Board of Trustees.
The second key work objective for 2024 is to establish a training center for agricultural experts in the various fields of activity along the rice value chain. The training and further education concept is to be based on the proven system of dual learning. Further participating and financing organizations will be recruited for this purpose. The Dreyer Foundation will contribute land, buildings and infrastructure for this training project.
During the visit, there was also a professional exchange with the Minister of Agriculture, Cdt Ismael Sombie, who also greatly appreciated the work of the Dreyer Foundation over the past 25 years. He sees rice as an important focus for Burkina Faso, which needs to be developed further on a large scale in the country on the basis of the Dreyer Foundation's experience in order to combat hunger.
On December 13, 2023, the Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso, Karamoko Jean Marie Traore, awarded Gisbert Dreyer the rank of "Commanduer de l'Ordre du Merite Burkinabe" for his 15 years of work as an Honorary Consul in Germany as well as his service as the Chairman of the Dreyer Foundation.
Rice project in Dano 2023
This year the rainy season was favourable for the growing of paddy rice in our “bas fonds”. The above average amount of rain of about 1,160 mm (2022: 1,044 mm) was very steady and supported growth continuously. The supply of seed (about 20 tons) and fertilizer (about 68 tons) to the farmers was achieved at reasonable prices.
Due to the instructions by our agro-consultants the preparation of new fields and the extension of irrigation systems for nearly 1,000 small hold farmers went very well in eight villages.
Also the use of small adapted machinery; like this single line seeding machine…
… simplified and accelerated rice production.
Proudly the farmers demonstrate their successful work.
Our developed and simple irrigation systems have shown their usefulness again.
The harvesting is now also done with small scale machinery…
… and mechanized threshing avoids a lot of losses of rice grains.
In the months of November and December 2023 we plan to buy about 1,600 tons of paddy rice from our farmer cooperatives for processing it to white rice in our rice factory.
Rice production 2022
This year the rainy season was delayed by 4 weeks. This created many problems at the beginning of the planting but fortunately it rained well since August. We therefore expect a good harvest in November / December 2022. This year our efforts in small scale mechanization helped the farmer a lot to overcome shortage of labour.
The number of cooperatives of small hold farmers increased to 42. All of them now members of the Central Cooperative. Due to the very high price of fertilizer this year we have a significant economic problem, as the farmers will be unable to sell the paddy rice at a higher price to the consumers to cover their additional costs.
Jour Fix of the Dreyer Foundation – a token of gratitude on 25.06.2022
The Dreyer Foundation, represented by Jenny Dreyer-Gsell and Gisbert Dreyer, together with many invited guests, celebrated their Jour Fix of Gratitude as a homage to life on the evening of 25 June 2022 in Berlin, Villa Bernadotte.
The time of the pandemic posed a novel, great challenge to all those who continued their philanthropic commitment under new conditions. Thanks to many wonderful people who also supported the activities of the Dreyer Foundation, the Foundation was able continue its aid during these difficult times both in Burkina Faso as well as here in the Berlin region.
Together with personalities such as the director and film producer Volker Schlöndorff, the gallery owner Dr. Aeneas Bastian, the German Cancer Laureate 2022 Prof. Dr. Mathias Heikenwälder, the former Federal Minister Peter Ramsauer with his wife Susanne, the painter Martin Hennig, Tini Gräfin Rothkirch, the actor and director Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss, the designer Arrey Kono Enow and many others, as well as representatives of several charitable foundations and associations, the Dreyer Foundation celebrated the Evening of Gratitude.
On this evening, five people were honoured on behalf of all active people committed to the common good, who had to step up their work considerably for children from socially disadvantaged families in Germany, their aid for Africa, for climate protection, for cancer patients and for severely handicapped children during this time.
These are the Kinderhaus Berlin- Mark Brandenburg e.V. with its more than forty facilities for children from socially disadvantaged families in our region, the Survivors Home Foundation gGmbH, which worked on a home for cancer patients for two years and was able to open it successfully four weeks ago, the German Ocean Foundation, which did impressive work in the area of climate protection also during the pandemic, and VITA e.V., an association for assistance dogs. Here, the lives of severely disabled children are made worth living by a specially trained assistance dog. Last but not least, Hilfe für Burkina Faso e.V., which builds schools for African children in the Burkinabé crisis area.
An individual thank you goes to the honorary member of the Board of Trustees of the Dreyer Foundation, filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff. For almost two years, he worked on his film “The Forest Maker”, a documentary about the work of Toni Rinaudo, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize, and travelled to Africa and India a lot for research and filming. With this committed documentary he wants to draw attention to the problems of climate change, especially in Africa.
Over a wonderful meal, a glass of wine, music and interesting conversations, many new contacts were forged, helping to spread the philanthropic idea, which is very close to Dreyers’ heart.
Burkina Faso: Storage facilities for rice completed
The rice factory now has a central storage facility with a storage capacity of approximately 1.000 to 1.5000 tonnes of rice.
In addition, three warehouses that can each store up to 300 tonnes of paddy rice have been built in close proximity to the rice fields.
Adequate storage facilities are key to reducing loss of rice post-harvest, and thereby assist with improving the income earning situation of small farmers in the local area.
Rice harvest 2021
The rice harvest was successful in 2021. Our agricultural technicians onboarded four new cooperatives into the value-generating chain from the villages Kpoperi, Kirim, Djikando and Mou. These new farmers received weekly training in modern cultivating methods. The use of modern machinery in the rice plantations greatly reduced the volume of work for small farmers.
In total 3.200 small farmers were managed by on more than 800 ha of lowlands. On the managed rice fields, 680 t of Paddy rice was produced and subsequently processed in the rice factory into nutritious rice for consumption.
Visit in Burkina Faso November 2021
Originally the Board of the Dreyer Foundation intended to visit the Center of the Foundation in Dano. Due to the very complicated security situation in the Southwest of Burkina Faso we only could travel to Ouagadougou. Therefore we asked the eight department heads to come to the capital for four days of intensive discussions. All running projects were thoroughly studied and conclusions also for future projects were taken.
Major issues were how to overcome the obstacles and delays posed by the Corona pandemic and the ever increasing difficulties for agriculture due to climate Change. Our major aims for the intensification and expansion of paddy rice cultivation by small hold farmers cooperatives and the enforcing of the central Union of cooperatives were severely hampered by these events.
Despite all efforts to speed up our efforts we have to plan for a delay of at least six months.
The construction works for the central depot for 900 tons of rice, internal streets and water drainage as well as three decentral depots for 300 tons each are progressing well.
On Friday, November 19th, 2021 the Board of the Dreyer Foundation was invited to an audience by HE The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Mr. Christope Dabiré. There we could present our work in the value chain of rice and point out to him many bureaucratic problems in tax and marketing management. The Prime Minister was very interested and promised his support in these matters.
In the evening we were invited to a private dinner in his residence where he discussed with us the plan of the burkinabe Government to increase the national rice production from 250.000 tons today to one million tons per year as quickly as possible. He asked the Dreyer Foundation to assist him in this plan by proposals, based on our experience of nearly twenty years.
All in all this first visit was – after two years of the pandemic – quite successful and a very important signal to our team in Burkina Faso. Their moral was raised by our promise to continue our work despite all the current obstacles.
For our team members from Dano, which could not be present in the meetings we conducted one video-conference which included also the staff of our schools. This was quite emotional for Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer as we learned that everybody is working hard and that our schoolchildren are well and enjoying their education. All this underlined how important it is to continue with all our projects.
Construction of a sports field in Dano
At the end of May 2021, the Dreyer Foundation, in cooperation with the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and streetfootballworld, a non-for-profit organization, completed a sports field in the center of Dano. The pitch is used by different local sports associations (football, volleyball, basketball and aerobic) as a training ground and can be used by the local population for larger events and gatherings. A special feature of the pitch is that the installation of water drainage systems allows an all-season usage of the sports field. The strong yearly monsoon rains between May and November usually flooded the area and made its usage impossible during this time period.
Dano’s Mayor, staff members of the „Ministère des Sports et Loisirs“ and representatives of local sport associations took part in the hand-over procedure of the sports pitch from the Dreyer Foundation to the public of Dano. All participants were pleased about the successful completion of the construction works and especially about the fact that the sports field can be used all year long.
Harvest 2020 for paddy rice – Challenges and successes
For the work of the Dreyer Foundation in Burkina Faso the worldwide pandemic posed many obstacles and demands. Besides the many video conferences the new means of communication, travelling was very restricted and cumbersome. Unforeseeable flight cancellations and quarantine restrictions made travelling very difficult. Despite all that the CFO of the Dreyer Foundation, Julian Rummler used whatever possibility there was to visit our team in Dano, Burkina Faso to strengthen our efforts together with Dr. Laurent Sedogo for the benefit of our plans. With that effort, we secured also in that difficult year 2020 a good result.
For the work of the Dreyer Foundation in Burkina Faso the worldwide pandemic posed many obstacles and demands. Besides the many video conferences the new means of communication, travelling was very restricted and cumbersome. Unforeseeable flight cancellations and quarantine restrictions made travelling very difficult. Despite all that the CFO of the Dreyer Foundation, Julian Rummler used whatever possibility there was to visit our team in Dano, Burkina Faso to strengthen our efforts together with Dr. Laurent Sedogo for the benefit of our plans. With that effort, we secured also in that difficult year 2020 a good result.
In 2020 our farmer cooperatives produced about 900 tons of paddy rice. From this the Drive Sarl rice factory bought 730 tons for further processing. Normally the smallholders retain about 20% of the harvest to feed their families. The farmers and we are all in all content with the harvest. But climate change more and more poses a problem for the local agriculture. Until a few years ago the onset and end of the rainy season was predictable. Now in 2020 the first rains were delayed by one month. For rice cultivation this is very problematic as the whole growth cycle depends on rain on time. In consideration of this the Dreyer Foundation has joined a team of researchers and specialized companies to develop a system of improved weather forecasts combined with systems for water harvesting to bridge over spells of dry periods during the rainy season.
Dreyer Foundation work in Germany in 2020, despite Covid-19, with the support of former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Soyeon Schröder-Kim
Unfortunately, the pandemic also caught up with us in Germany in March this year. Many of you know that, after long preparations, we too had to cancel over one hundred guests just six days before our benefit concert was due with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and other artists in aid of the children in Burkina Faso. It was also no longer possible for us to fly to our centre in Dano. But even in these times of Covid-19, we were not idle. For example, we supported Berlin children from socially disadvantaged families in cooperation with Kinderhaus Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., which looks after 47 children and youth projects. According to their needs in the lockdown, they received many games, books and especially laptops, which were urgently needed for home-schooling. The joy among the children and young people was great. Many letters and pictures they had painted themselves reached us.
We will continue this initiative.
Thanks goes out to the mobile family managers under the leadership of Petra Kaufmann, who have all done a wonderful job here. We would also like to express our gratitude to Soyeon Schröder-Kim and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for their great commitment to this cause.
Creating equal opportunities for all children and young people is our great concern and an important step towards a good and peaceful future for all of us.
Rice cultivation 2020 – stable yields despite Covid-19
Our local team in Dano is working hard to get the fields ready for the 2020 planting season. Seeds, fertiliser and working materials were distributed to 30 farmer cooperatives in time for the rainy season, the soil was prepared, and the rice seeds were planted. Unfortunately, climate change is increasingly noticeable in West Africa. Longer periods of drought within the rainy season endanger the sowing. Considerable heavy rains damage the water-regulating dams and canals. Nevertheless, we are confident to achieve a good rice harvest again in 2020.
The organisational set-up of the central cooperative for rice processing is also making progress. Our rice factory is now being further expanded in the legal form of a non-profit limited company with the aim of achieving a processing volume of approx. 5,000 tonnes of rice per year by 2023. The necessary investment funds for machinery and buildings have been provided and will be used in 2021. Due to the standstill of international traffic, we are using this time for an intensive planning phase.
The ongoing support for our schools (Maternelle, primary and secondary) continues unimpeded and the school results are very satisfactory. Nevertheless, we very much hope that travelling to Burkina Faso will be possible again in the autumn so that we can also visit our children again.
Award of the Dreyer Foundation with “L’Ordre de merit” on the occasion of the National Day of Burkina Faso
Under the leadership of Board Member Dr Laurent Sedogo, representatives of the Dreyer Foundation from Dano received the “LOrdre de Merit” award for the work and achievements of the Dreyer Foundation for the benefit of the Burkinabé nation at a ceremony in Gaoua on 11 December 2019.
Rice cultivation 2019 – challenges and successes
DOperations for the 2019 rice growing season started in April 2019 with the preparation of the fields, minor repairs to dams and irrigation canals, and the provision of 11.5 tonnes of seeds and 103 tonnes of fertiliser for approximately 600 hectares cultivated by 2,500 smallholder farmers.
Sowing went according to plan with the onset of the rainy season, which was unfortunately delayed until June 2019. An unusual dry spell in September caused growth delays in parts of the fields, which were then exacerbated by another consequence of climate change – heavy rainfall.
October saw unprecedented heavy rainfall (200 mm in 6 days), destructive flooding was only avoided thanks to the canal system and water management we had put into place. However, these negative weather events affected the harvest result, which was lower than expected. On average, the 600 hectares yielded about 2.5 tonnes of paddy rice per hectare. The farmers sold 70% of the total harvest of 855 tonnes of paddy to the rice factory, the remaining 30% is used for securing food for the families.
The aim is to improve the harvest results for the next three years by further expanding mechanisation and strengthening the organisation of the approximately 3,000 smallholders in cooperatives.
Charity Summer Fête of the Dreyer Foundation 2019
on June 29, 2019 in Berlin, Villa Bernadotte
On the evening of the 29th of June 2019 the entrepreneurial couple Jenny Dreyer-Gsell and Gisbert Dreyer, as well as the director, film producer and Oscar winner Volker Schlöndorff hosted the annual summer charity event of the Dreyer Foundation. They celebrated the already traditional summer charity event at Villa Bernadotte in Berlin-Dahlem with more than 100 guests - philanthropically committed personalities, supporters and friends - among them Tom Buhrow, Tini Countess Rothkirch, H.E. Dr. Gordan Grlic Radman and many others.
That evening, Volker Schlöndorff and the Dreyers presented a new school project, which is to be built in Dano for another 300 Burkinabe children. Volker Schlöndorff has agreed to take over the patronage for this new preschool. Actors Martina Gedeck and Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss are also supporters of this new school project as part of the foundations work.
The evening was musically accompanied by the wonderful melodies of Andrej Hermlin and his Swing Dance Orchestra. The orchestra had already played in London, Hong Kong, Milan, New York and other cities with his compositions of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and other stars.
The guests were treated to culinary delights by RitterRitchard, one of the most successful young catering companies, known for their unique food concepts. Olaf Ritter and Karsten Richard stand for creative catering cuisine at the highest level.
Help against hunger
In the tradition of the Dreyer Foundation Jenny and Gisbert presented in april 2019 1000 kg of rice to the local hospital. The rice helped to feed the malnourished mothers and babys in the maternity ward of the hospital.
H.E. Ambassador Ingo Herbert visits Dano
In spring 2019, the German Ambassador to Burkina Faso, H.E. Ingo Herbert, visited the Dreyer Foundation in Dano. He saw for himself the success of the Dreyer Foundations work. The director Abdoulaye Que`draogo explained the work with the farmers cooperatives in detail to the ambassador.
Members of the German Bundestag visited Dano in January 2019
The members of the German Bundestag, Michael Leutert (Die Linke, head of delegation), Cartsen Körber (CDU/CSU), Christoph Matschie (SPD) and Anja Hajduk (Bündnis 90/DIE GRÜNEN) were informed about the work and commitment of the Dreyer Foundation in Burkina Faso. The MPs were very interested in the experiences of the Dreyer Foundation in development work in West Africa. The response was positive throughout.
From Saturday, 19 January 2019 on ARTE:
Carte Blanche for Volker Schlöndorff
“Ein Reiskorn in der Sahel Zone”
(A grain of rice in the Sahel)
A film by Volker Schlöndorff
“I have seen happy people – in Africa. That alone may sound surprising to many who have only known horror stories from the ‘black’ continent since the Berlin Conference of 1885,” says director Volker Schlöndorff.
He visited an agricultural project in Burkina Faso. Rice, of all things, is grown there in one of the poorest regions of the world – and successfully at that. Gisbert Dreyer, a German entrepreneur, has been looking after this project, which also includes an exemplary school and sanitary facilities, on site for 30 years, with personal commitment and his own capital. More than twenty village cooperatives are now cultivating 500 hectares of rice fields, soon to be 2,000 hectares, and one day the land could cover their own needs.
The film shows what is possible: provided one has sufficient start-up capital, is personally committed, accompanies the initiative in the long term, plans over decades and involves the people at every step.
Watch the film via the following link in the arte Mediathek:
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/073049-025-A/square-fuer-kuenstler/
“Growing rice in the Sahel with a cooperative approach”
Presentation by Gisbert Dreyer, 16.01.2019
Within the framework of International Cooperation for Sustainable Development and on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH invited a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Germany.
The delegation, led by Mr. Le Duc Thinh, Director General, Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development, consisted of 10 delegates.
The information trip was intended to provide guests with an insight into climate change adaptation through innovation in the agri-food sector and to highlight successful approaches to digital and technological innovation.
The exchange focused on the rice value chain, ownership issues and cooperative land use, as well as the establishment and development of farmer cooperatives.
As the Dreyer Foundation runs a large rice project in Burkina Faso as part of the Green Innovation Centres, Gisbert Dreyer was invited by GIZ to speak to the Vietnamese delegation about his experience of rice cultivation in Burkina Faso.
The guests thanked Gisbert Dreyer very warmly for the very interesting event, also with the presentation of a gift.
“Creating opportunities – developing the future”
Jour fixe Africa, 03/10/2018
Under the motto “Creating opportunities – developing the future”, a brunch was held at Villa Bernadotte on 3 October 2018. In this context, there was a preview of the documentary film “Dano Reisetagebuch” (Dano Rice Diary) by Volker Schlöndorff, who reported personally on his impressions in Burkina Faso as a host together with Jenny Dreyer-Gsell and Gisbert Dreyer. This event was a success, bringing together interesting guests from different areas of society, such as film, politics, foundations, etc. Through the interesting exchanges, some of the guests became interested in participating at different levels
“A grain of rice in the Sahel” according to Volker Schlöndorff/ Interim status of rice cultivation 2018
During his last trip to Burkina Faso in late summer 2018, Gisbert Dreyer was able to see for himself the promising state of rice cultivation in Dano. “We expect a very good harvest result in November,” Dr Laurent Sedogo, Executive Director of the Dreyer Foundation on site in Dano, promises. “An average yield of 4 tonnes per hectare should be achieved at the very least.” That would amount to about 2,000 tonnes of paddy rice that can be sold by the farmers cooperatives to the rice factory, generating a harvest yield of about 400,000 euros.
But the Dreyers never forget to visit their Burkinabé children on any trip. Another school will soon be needed. Jenny Dreyer Gsell is personally involved here and will present a new school project and inspire supporters at her next charity event.
The directors of the Dreyer Foundation
at their Charity-Summer party in Berlin 2018
With more than 100 guests Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer celebrated their summer party on 30th June 2018 at seat of the at the Dreyer Foundation.
As a special surprise, Volker Schlöndorff’s new movie about the work of the Dreyer Foundation in Burkina Faso was shown as a pre-premiere.
International guests from politics, business, film, art as well as private families interested in the development sector spent a wonderful evening together end enjoyed the music of Andrej Hermlin and his Swing Dance Orchestra.
Among them: S.E. Shi Mingde – ambassador of the Republic of China, art collector Erich Marx, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office Walter J. Lindner, Dr. Peter Ramsauer – former federal Minister, Vladimir Kotenev – former ambassador of the Russian Federation, designer Arrey Enow Kono, Dayan Kodua – actress and initiator of the Initiative for Ghana, Tini Gräfin Rothkirch, Regine Sixt, Gesine Schwan, Dr. Freiherr Armin von Grießenbeck, Prof. Dr. Werner Leitner, Sebastian Czaja, Klaus Bresser and many more.
At this evening did not collects donations for their own Foundation but for the work of „Licht für die Welt e.V.“. For that reason, Prof. Dr. med. Siegfried Priglinger, Chief of the Eyeclinik at the Ludwig-Maximilians- University in Munich, reported about their engagement in Westafrica and expressed his appreciation of the work the Dreyer Foundation is doing in Westafrica.
German director, screenwriter and movie producer
Volker Schlöndorff in Dano – April 2018
Volker Schlöndorff, the successful German director, screenwriter and movie producer accompanied Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer to their foundation work in Dano. Filled with enthusiasm about the work of the Dreyer Foundation he decided to realize a film project for television. During the film making, Volker Schlöndorff was assisted by a Burkinabe film crew whose enthusiasm inspired him. Impressed by the events and the experience, Volker Schlöndorff is already thinking about a sequel.
New Years reception of the BMZ at the “Green week 2018”
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) presented itself anew in 2018 at “Green Week”, the worlds largest agricultural fair in Berlin. This time the BMZ informed its audience under the motto “ONEWORLD without hunger is possible - with fair purchasing and fair production”. This year again, Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer met with the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller, to discuss the Dreyer Foundation’s current nutrition projects in West Africa.
Charity-Summer Party 2017 of the Dreyer Foundation
“A light for Africa” was the theme of the annual charity event of the Dreyer Foundation on the evening of June 30th, 2017. Together with friends, supporters and philanthropical personalities the Foundation enjoyed this years Charity Party in the Villa Bernadotte in Berlin. Special guests like Dr. Aula Obama, the german actor Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss, Countess Karin Sassoli de Bianchi de Medici, Regine Sixt, the art collector Dr. Erich Marx, HE Ambassador Simplice Honoré Guibila and his wife Marie-Florence and fashion designer Arrey Kono Enow enjoyed the beautiful music of Andrej Hermlin and His Swing Dance Orchestra with its musical arrangements from Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and other american composers. The Swing Dance Orchestra already played in London and other major cities.
The guests enjoyed the refined cooking of RitterRichard, a very successful young catering firm.
The hostess Jenny Dreyer-Gsell, known for her widespread activities in many big german charity foundations, and her husband Gisbert Dreyer had decided to dedicated the donations of the evening to the international Charity Organisation “Light for the World”. The evening was a wonderful event for all.
The Dreyer Foundation in the new book by Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
In his new book “Unfair”, Gerd Müller describes the challenges of our time in relation to globalisation and fair, ecological trade. Following his visit to the Dreyer Foundation in Burkina Faso, he described the project in his book as groundbreaking in terms of solving the problems of poverty and selfdetermination.
On page 84, Müller writes in his book:
“… The fate of rural areas has been ignored for far too long. Here the granaries of the world can be found. Small farmers use about half of the worlds arable land - but in most cases not very effectively. An example of this is Burkina Faso in West Africa, where 80 percent of the population live from agriculture, mostly from subsistence farming. Currently, half of the rice required by Burkina Faso is imported, notwithstanding that the country could feed itself.
This is evidenced by the Dreyer Foundation located in Munich. It is magnificent what Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer have achieved over the past decades in Dano, in the South West of Burkina Faso. On the way to Dano we drove 50 kilometers through heat and dust, when suddenly a paradise appeared in the middle of the desert.”
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Think tank initiative by the Dreyer Foundation for a new African policy
On the occassion of their think tank kick-off themed “Building the future of the world together” the Dreyer Foundation welcomed representatives of the BMZ, the German Foreign Office, the industry and other institutions on 18 November 2016. Gisbert Dreyer introduced the initiative. Ambassador Walter Lindner spoke about the necessity of rethinking African policy in order to cope with the challenges of african migration with innovative concepts.
Considering the enormous problems Ingo Badoreck, General Secretary of the German Africa Foundation, supported the Dreyer Foundations initiative to bring the relevant players of the german African policy together. This was also affirmed by representatives of companies such as Gauff GmbH, Claas KG as well as by representatives from institutions such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the German-African Business Association and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
During the discussions, a very knowledgeable and constructive exchange of thoughts arose. The result was to take up and support the Dreyer Foundation initiative. The future participation of german stakeholders in african policy was explicitly assured. Based on that positive response the Dreyer Foundation decided to launch the Think Tank officially in spring 2017.
Ambassador Dr. Dr. Dietrich Pohl visits Dano
In November 2016 the German Ambassador Dr. Dr. Dietrich Pohl found the opportunity to visit our Foundation Center in Dano, which he personally felt highly interesting and encouraging: “The visit to Dano at the Dreyer Foundation has impressed me, and it is clear that personal commitment, technical expertise and the mobilization of the local forces in Burkina Faso can achieve a great deal, and the now operational solar system allows the refinement and the best possible utilization of the rice harvest in Dano and beyond. The use of the Dreyer Foundation in the context of the “One World Without Hunger” program has yielded very good results: 130 hectares have already been developed for the cultivation of rice, soon 250 are expected. I was very impressed by the local population, who, with the help of the Dreyer Foundation, will be able to take their fate into their own hands on the now newly developed areas and to improve their living conditions fundamentally.”
First meeting with new minister of agriculture
Since January 2016, the new government of Roche Kaboré and his Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba officiates in Burkina Faso. Jacob Ouedraogo is the new minister of agriculture and water projects. The first meeting between him and Gisbert Dreyer took place at the ministry in Ouagadougou. There, Gisbert Dreyer introduced the minister to the projects of the foundation and gave him a photo book about the lives, people and activities of the foundation in Dano. The minister of agriculture expresses the country’s gratitude for the long-standing work of the foundation in Dano and hopes to have a firsthand impression during his upcoming visit in Dano.
Rice cultivation in the village of Yo
The village of Yo is one of 10 villages around Dano, where the Dreyer foundation implements an innovative rice cultivation project sponsored by the BMZ. In 2016, approx. 25ha marshland shall be reclaimed and be used for rice production. For this purpose, a village meeting took already place in February. Locals received picks for cultivation and the head of agricultural projects of the foundation Abdoulaye Ouédraogo gave intensive instructions about the project and its implementation. Sowing of the rice will take place in June/July, the expected rice harvest will be in the end of October/beginning of November. From the beginning of this year, 100 heads of families of Yo (35 women, 65 men) can therefore ensure a sustainable and long-term livelihood for their families.
Cooperation with traditional authorities
In order to discuss the issues of waste management and cleanliness in the city of Dano, Gisbert Dreyer met with Naonfa II, the “Roi de Dano”. As traditional chief, the “Roi de Dano” still wields special authority among local population, Gisbert Dreyer asked for his support. Thanks to his assistance, town dwellers and villagers will be made aware of growing waste disposal problems and shall permanently and actively participate in waste disposal and cleanliness of cities and squares.
New Year’s reception of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development at the International Green Week-Fair in Berlin, jan 20, 2016
For the first time, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development presented itself at the world’s biggest agricultural fair in Berlin. Within the special show “A world without hunger is possible” at the International Green Week, the Federal Ministry provided information about their projects to fight world-wide hunger and invited visitors of the fair to exchange ideas. There, Jenny and Gisbert Dreyer met the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller, and talked about ongoing nutrition projects of the Dreyer foundation in Westafrica.
Scholarship for Abel Some
Abel Some is one of the first orphans the Dreyer foundation took care of. He has taken full advantage of his opportunities and benefited from the educational facilities in Dano: at first he went to primary school, subsequently he went to secondary school and now he earned a medical degree at the University of Quaga. At present he is writing his doctoral thesis about Moringa oleifera. In recognition of his scholary achievements, the Dreyer Foundation enables him to attend the first International moringa-congress in November 2015 in Malina, the Philippines.
Federal Cross of Merit for Gisbert Dreyer
To honor the manifold merits for the extensive and sustainable development cooperation with Burkina Faso, the founder and directorate of the Dreyer Foundation Gisbert Dreyer received the Federal Cross of Merit on the ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany from the Federal President on 2nd of March 2015. Ilse Aigner, the Bavarian minister of state for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology presents him the official document and the medal within a commemorative ceremony. This distinguished Service Award is the only general state decoration of the Republic of Germany. His awarded for remarkable achievements in the field of politics, economics, culture, arts and honorary work.
A new primary school in Dano
With the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Dreyer Foundation is going to build a new primary school in Dano within the second half of the year 2015. With the construction of this primary school, 6 additional classrooms for approximately 300 children will be added to the schools, already built by the Dreyer Foundation. Til 2014, the Dreyer Foundation had already built classrooms for 2.600 children. The long term goal of the foundation is a long-lasting improvement of the educational situation in Dano for children from 4 to 19 years.
Rice cultivation in Dano
Under the guidance of the Dreyer foundation, approx. 315 hectare irrigated paddy fields were built since 2002 until the middle of the year 2015. These are managed by the 1000 peasants, organized in 12 cooperatives. The goal of the foundation is the expansion of the productive and sustainable rice production to approx. 600 hectares on til now unused wet lands in the community of Dano. This latest task is implemented on behalf of the initiative of the BMZ “A world without hunger”. More than a thousand farming families, which have not cultivated any rice so far, shall profit from this project. The supervision and evaluation of the project is conducted with local partners and includes mentoring, supervision and control.
Innovative rice mill 2013
On an area of 17 hectare, the Dreyer Foundation is currently developing an industrial project to process agricultural products. First part is the construction and the operation of an innovative rice processing plant: a factory to dehusk and preboil approximately 1.000 tons of rice per year. The necessary energy is produced by a solar thermal system with 22 parabolic mirrors with a reflecting surface of 440 square meters and a thermal gasification plant based on rice husks. This is the first rice processing of this kind in Westafrica.
