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For visitors to our stand: You are hereby cordially invited to contact Ms Janine Breitenfeld to make an appointment: j.breitenfeld(at)sunfarming.de

SUNfarming, based in Erkner near Berlin, is a family-run, medium-sized company in the solar energy sector which is a leader in the development, construction and operation of photovoltaic systems and also invests in the production of renewable energies and green hydrogen for climate protection and energy security. In addition to rooftop PV plants, open space plants on landfills and conversion areas as well as floating PV plants, SUNfarming's special focus is the development, construction and operation of agricultural and moorland photovoltaic plants in Germany and internationally. With innovative dual-use concepts especially for agriculture as well as horticulture and viticulture, SUNfarming is sustainably

For visitors to our stand: You are hereby cordially invited to contact Ms Anja Kirchner to make an appointment: +49 (0)3362 8859 166, a.kirchner@sunfarming.de

SUNfarming, based in Erkner near Berlin, is a family-run, medium-sized company in the solar energy sector which is a leader in the development, construction and operation of photovoltaic systems and also invests in the production of renewable energies and green hydrogen for climate protection and energy security. In addition to rooftop PV plants, open space plants on landfills and conversion areas as well as floating PV plants, SUNfarming's special focus is the development, construction and operation of agricultural and moorland photovoltaic plants in Germany and internationally. With innovative dual-use concepts especially for agriculture as well as horticulture and viticulture, SUNfarming is sustainably advancing the energy turnaround. SUNfarming develops innovative PV solutions with its own engineers, has already realised more than 650 MW of installed capacity and has more than 230 MW of plant capacity in its own portfolio. SUNfarming has already received numerous awards for its Food, Energy & Training concepts in various developing countries.

More than 25 farmers and various personalities from the region came together to get first-hand information about the latest developments in the field of Agri-Photovoltaics, dual use of agricultural land and moor PV solutions.
Managing Director of Friedländer Landhandels- und Dienste GmbH Mr Jürgen Ströde warmly welcomed the guests to the lecture event. Founder and main shareholder of the SUNfarming Group Mr. Peter Schrum introduced the topic and handed over to BRM President/Managing Director of Project Development at SUNfarming Edith Brasche.
After the seminar, there was a Q&A session where the many exciting questions were clarified.
At the end of the event, the audience was able to visit an Agri-PV pilot plant that SUNfarming has installed on site.
We would like to thank the visitors for their great interest and participation in the event.

During the basic course, a vegetable garden of 75 sqm was established by the trainees. The trainees prepare the seedbeds for planting. To promote growth and keep the soil healthy, the trainees are trained to make their own compost. Another successful garden has been established, the following vegetables have been grown: spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, green beans, carrots.
At the end of the training, each trainee receives their AgriSeta approved certificate and basic starter kit. The trainer explains all the contents of the toolkit consisting of SUNfarming Vitality Booster Porridge, seeds, bucket, coconut fibre block, basic disease spray, seed trays, fork.

This training benefits 20 adults and 13 children through training in vegetable cultivation and healthy eating. The food produced is used to provide for the families' own needs, and any surplus produced can be sold at regional markets.

The entrepreneur course in vegetable cultivation was successfully completed by 13 women and 3 men..
A vegetable garden of 468 square metres was planted. 56 adults and 42 children benefited from this.

The theoretical learning plan included the following main points:
- Recognising capital needs and understanding the need to record income and various costs in a farming business.
- Application of marketing principles in agriculture.
- Basic knowledge of soil fertility and crop nutrition.
- Operation and maintenance of specific irrigation systems.
- Control pests, diseases and weeds on crops effectively and responsibly.

At the same time, the trainees of the advanced courses are taught the basics of solar energy and its benefits by highly qualified trainers from our subsidiary SUNCybernetic.
The courses in vegetable gardening and healthy nutrition conducted by SUNfarming are controlled by the competent South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). The certificates awarded at graduation represent a nationally recognised qualification that facilitates entry into the labour market.

The SUNfarming Vitality Porridge Project:

The Vitality Porridge Project provides immediate help against hunger and at the same time sustainable help-for-self via certified training courses in vegetable cultivation and healthy nutrition for the local population. Labour is needed for production in the food industry. Accredited Agri-SETA trainers in organic vegetable production, provided by SUNfarming South Africa, take over the training of these workers. In this way, additional new jobs are created locally. Our trainees are much better equipped to find work in agriculture after completing our training.

The theoretical and practical training includes everything from soil preparation to sowing, irrigation and pest control that is necessary for a successful harvest. The gardens established by the first group are expanded and maintained by subsequent groups. In the course of the growing season, subsequent groups can learn pest control and pruning in a practical way. All trainees receive a file with the training material. On the last day of the course, each trainee receives the nationally recognised SAQA (South African Qualification Authority) training certificate of successful participation at a small handover ceremony.
So far, more than 20 schools with over 10,000 students and at least 60,000 family members are participating in the project. 300 unemployed people are trained in the training programme. For the 60 best), the project offers further training on farm land provided by SUNfarming in Potchefstroom. As licensed SUNfarming franchisers, a large number of them will help to supply supermarkets with organic vegetables and herbs.

As an emergency aid, Vitality Porridge will be distributed to school children as a daily vitamin and nutrient rich supplement to their school lunch during the project period. In addition, the children receive a 5 kg bag to take home to their families. As there are often not enough plates in the schools, Vitality Porridge can also be distributed and drunk more diluted as a milkshake. The children love it even more this way, because it tastes like a vanilla shake, they say.
The course participants can also take home a 5kg bag of Vitality Porridge.

The school programmes supported by KfW/DEG aim to tackle malnutrition, one of the biggest development problems in African countries, at its root. Children are empowered directly at school and teachers are trained to pass on the knowledge they have gained about the essential importance of healthy food to the children. Through training and education directly in the production facilities and in cooperation with the church communities, jobs and sustainable future prospects are also created for the people in Africa.

"The medicinal herbs for the Vitality Porridge are already grown, dried and packaged as multiple crops (intercropping), together with various vegetables, by trainees in our Food & Energy Training Centres. The extruders provided on the Food & Energy facilities for the production of Vitality Porridge have been technically enlarged to produce up to 200,000 food portions per day," Peter Schrum, SUNfarming founder, tells us.
"We would like to expressly thank all project partners without whose support we would not have been able to realise the emergency food aid and training programmes in the Vitality Porridge project," Peter Schrum continues.

SUNfarming Vitality Porridge Project in South Africa is a PPP project and is funded by KfW/DEG. The project is supported in its organisation by develoPPP, Skills for All, german cooperation, F.E.E.D. (Food-Energy-Education-Development e.V.).

Multi-award-winning SUNfarming Training Centre

Over 3,500 trainings have taken place at the SF Solar Training Center and SF Food & Energy Training Center since 2013 for participants from all over Africa. With the help of KfW/DEG, SUNfarming/Alensys successfully realised the Solar Training Centre at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, back in 2013, as part of a PPP Public Private Partnership Programme. In 2015, the solar training centre was expanded by 15 agro-solar greenhouses to become the SF Food & Energy Training Centre. The training centres, which are constantly being expanded even after the funding has expired, are in full operation and, in addition to solar power for the campus, also supply fresh vegetables to the North West University campus and a grocery shop in Potchefstroom (Pick & Pay).

You can find all information at www.feed-ev.de or contact our Edith Brasche, Vice President FEED e.V.

Advancing economic and climate policy interests at the same time was the goal of Economics Minister Habeck and Agriculture Minister Özdemir in South America. The first stop on the six-day trip was Brazil.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir travelled to South America for six days - according to the Economics Ministry, primarily to intensify economic relations and climate cooperation with Brazil and Colombia.
Habeck announced his intention to build "green value chains for more prosperity and climate protection". The free trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur states is also to be discussed.
The governments of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro "are committed to tackling the climate crisis and illegal deforestation and are consistently advancing decarbonisation", Habeck said. "We want to use this momentum to face the global challenges together as democracies and jointly build green value chains across the Atlantic for greater prosperity and climate protection."
"Brazil and Colombia, with their renewable energy potentials and significant raw material deposits, play a key role in global climate protection and the transformation of our economies towards green, sustainable models," Habeck further announced.

After a year of development and pilot phase for SUNfarming's first self-developed floating PV system, which is now being realised, the total of 143 pontoons of the 750 kWp solar system are currently being installed on the gravel lake of Kieswerke Laprell KaphofGmbH & Co KG. Beforehand, concrete foundations for the anchoring of the floating PV system had already been brought to the bottom of the lake at a depth of about 10 metres. A total of 1,716 bifacial glass-glass modules, 4 inverters and 1 transformer will supply the gravel plant with its own electricity and thus contribute significantly to the customer's energy cost reduction and CO2 neutrality. A total of 16 assemblers and 2 site managers will set up the system on site in about 10 weeks, and the grid connection is scheduled to take place in April.
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Link to the 1-minute video