Subject category:
Strategy and General Management
Published by:
Harvard Business Publishing
Version: 17 January 2024
Revision date: 14-Mar-2024
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https://casecent.re/p/196213
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Abstract
This case examines the history of prominent Egyptian-based social enterprise SEKEM from its foundation in 1977 until the COP27 conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022. Led by father and son team Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish, SEKEM turned desert into farmland using biodynamic methods under the influence of Anthroposophy, which originated with Rudolf Steiner in the early twentieth century. As the firm made profits, the case explores how it invested in schools and other cultural institutions, and in 2012 opened the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. The final section discusses the role of agriculture in causing climate change and Helmy Abouleish's belief that biodynamic agriculture can offer a real solution to combating the climate crisis. The case enables a debate about how values-driven firms can add societal and ecological value, and about the appropriate boundaries between such firms and public policy.
About
Abstract
This case examines the history of prominent Egyptian-based social enterprise SEKEM from its foundation in 1977 until the COP27 conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022. Led by father and son team Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish, SEKEM turned desert into farmland using biodynamic methods under the influence of Anthroposophy, which originated with Rudolf Steiner in the early twentieth century. As the firm made profits, the case explores how it invested in schools and other cultural institutions, and in 2012 opened the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. The final section discusses the role of agriculture in causing climate change and Helmy Abouleish's belief that biodynamic agriculture can offer a real solution to combating the climate crisis. The case enables a debate about how values-driven firms can add societal and ecological value, and about the appropriate boundaries between such firms and public policy.