EBDA Communications

1. Field Coverage – Wahaat Trip

Duration: 4 days
Location: Wahat Farm
Purpose of the Trip:
The media team traveled to Wahat for four days to provide full media coverage of the International Dates Festival Event in Wahat Bahria, documenting activities, farmer engagement, and the overall impact of the event on the community.

Key Activities Completed:

• Filmed all main sessions and field demonstrations during the Date Event.
• Conducted, participants, and team members to highlight the significance of the event.
• Captured high-quality visuals showing sorting, and processing activities.
• Photographed key moments for future use in reports, social media, and archive material.

2. Post-Production & Editing Progress

The team managed significant editing output this month, finalizing both social media content and educational material.

3. Additional Notes & Next Steps

• Begin planning the publishing schedule for the 15 reels across EBDA/EoL social channels.
• Coordinate with the Events and Training teams to ensure the learning videos are shared with farmers and trainees. Find them here.
• Organize all raw footage into the media archive for future documentation and reporting needs.

EBDA achievements

EBDA Research and Development Team

During November, the Research and Development team continued active progress across multiple on-farm projects. A collective report has been prepared for all ongoing activities, and field teams are currently working on-site to ensure continuous monitoring, data collection, and weekly updates.

1. DOC Trial Project

We followed the project from the early stages with land preparation and setting up the irrigation system. The team monitored every step leading up to the planting stage, ensuring that all preparations were completed efficiently and on time.

2. Preparations Experiment Project

Work progressed steadily throughout the month. Activities included:

• Preparing the land
• Seeds treatment
• Monitoring field treatments
• Ensuring that all preparations and sprays were applied according to schedule

Regular field visits were conducted to confirm proper application and track early growth performance.

3. Breeding Experiment

breeding activities progressed at El Mizan farm through the cultivation of several zucchini varieties, the selected tomato variety (SAT124), and three pepper varieties (Giallo, Yolo Wonder, Rosso). The selected varieties were planted successfully under organic field conditions.

The team carried out routine follow-ups to:

• Monitor plant growth
• Evaluate overall plant and fruit quality
• Detect any unusual signs or variations

This ongoing monitoring supports early decision-making and ensures consistency and stability of the breeding lines.

PGS Progress

• In November, multiple training activities were conducted in different regions for the PGS practitioners.
• The training covered an introduction to the PGS system, how to obtain the PGS certificate, and the proper way to complete the checklist. The team clarified all checklist questions to ensure accurate inspections in all aspects of the certification. 
• The EBDA Engineers training on PGS was conducted on November 9th and 10th to ensure the effectiveness of the system on the field. Additionally, peer reviewers training on PGS took place across several governorates, including Giza, Beni Suef, Assiut, Qena, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan of a total number of 97  peer reviewers trained in these governorates. Check the link for more. 
• One of the oldest EBDA registered farms, Ali Fahmi’s farm has obtained the certification of the PGS-EoL this November. 

Regional Sustainable Development Forum

EoL has joined the RSD Forum and took part in a panel discussion about the EoL Standard for holistic sustainable development and its impact on farmers’ livelihoods and the health of their land. During the session, the team highlighted how the standard integrates ecological regeneration, fair economic structures, and strong social pillars to create long-term value for farming communities. Real examples from certified farms were presented, showing improvements in soil fertility, water efficiency, biodiversity indicators, and overall household income.

• Setting baseline for Biodiversity farm assessment

EoL started pilot to try the Biodiversity calculation assessment using Cool Farm Tool and equations from the Biodiversity Credits: the UNI/PdR 179:2025 Practice, the UNI/PdR 179:2025, published on 23 September 2025, marks a historic turning point for biodiversity protection in Italy. For the first time, organisations have a concrete tool to assess their ecological footprint and transform it into opportunities through measurable projects. By using these equations can calculate the The Mean Species Abundance (MSA) metric. A total of 3 farms under the EoL have the Biodiversity baseline.

Administration Team 

• Sahara Exhibition

In November, a report was prepared on the number of forms submitted on the Sahara Expo.

• Dopay/NBE Updates

A meeting was held on November 26 to discuss the following:

1- Distribution Methodology.

2- Flexible Distribution Plan.

3- resolving the issue of the suspended.

4. 16k farmers plan.
5. Marketing plan and the awareness raising campaigns. 

The follow-up and conclusions:

• Regional plan per capacity farmers rate. 
• Re-check addresses and phone numbers of the suspended cards
• Planning with the Engineers department maximum one week in advance
• Issuing the 16k farmers by first quarter of 2026 

NBE Update

Ten new cards have been distributed, bringing the total number of successfully distributed cards to 1400. Follow-up is conducted with farmers who have received Meeza cards from the National Bank of Egypt in case any problems arise. 

• EBDA new farms’ registration 

As part of the upscaling project of the EBDA to reach 40,000 farmers by the end of 2025, the office administration team in October, has successfully registered one farm and around 70 farmers were contacted on social media. EBDA Farmers’s Growth
As part of the upscaling project of the EBDA to reach 40,000 farmers by the end of 2025

EBDA extension engineers successfully registered 342 new farms in October that included 1,971 farmers with a total area of 6,600 feddan.

EBDA total registered information until November 2025 as follows:

• Total farms: 8,526 farms registered
• Total farmers: 37,995 farmers registered
• Total area in acres: 164,398 Feddan

EBDA Farmers Training & Engineers Training