History
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Since 1961, the foundations established by Karl Werner Kieffer have contributed to building a future worth living for present and future generations. While the foundations were active in the areas of education and health during the first decades, the development of organic agriculture has been the focus of their work since the 1970's.
Education
In its first decade, the Georg Michael Pfaff Memorial Foundation was active promoting education in the region of Kaiserslautern / Rhineland-Palatinate. Among other contributions, its support had considerable influence on the positive decision for the foundation of the University of Kaiserslautern in 1969. In that year, a book edition "Ecological Conceptes" was established which continues to provide information on various environmental issues.
Health and Ecology
Realizing the increasing burden on human health which the modern world creates by polluting soil, water, food and the atmosphere and by a multitude of stress situations, the topic of health was established as a second aim of the foundation in the seventies.
Following an inspiring lecture by the Anglo-German scientist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (author of the book "Small is beautiful") in 1974, the Pfaff-Foundation was supplemented by two further foundations:
The Foundation Appropriate Technology ("Stiftung Mittlere Technologie") concentrated on developing concepts of a technology beneficial to people and its relationship to the environment. It mainly focused on development in the industrialised nations. Numerous round tables and a number of publications distributed the new ideas.
The Foundation Ecological Agriculture ("Stiftung Ökologischer Landbau") was established to raise awareness of the dangers of an agriculture heavily dependent on artificial fertilisers and pesticides and to promote the successful practice of organic farming. One of its main aims was to bring together the various groups within organic agriculture to form one organic movement. Dagi Kieffer, the wife of Karl Werner Kieffer, has been exceedingly active in this foundation ever since its beginnings.
Organic Agriculture
In 1976, the Foundation Ecological Agriculture started organising a number of seminars on applied topics of organic agriculture and viticulture. A large number of books as well as the quarterly journal "Ökologie & Landbau" (established in 1977) have contributed to spreading competent information on the subject.
In the late seventies, the first guidelines for organic farming were developed in cooperation with a range of organic farmers' associations. These integrating activities of the foundation were continued in the eighties and led to the foundation of AGÖL (working group on organic agriculture) as an umbrella organisation of organic agriculture movements in Germany in 1988.
From the very beginning, the foundation has maintained close links with IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) and has supported its work. From 1976 to 1986, Dagi Kieffer was a member of the board of IFOAM.
Foundation Ecology & Agriculture
In 1991 the three existing foundations were united into the present Foundation Ecology & Agriculture ("Stiftung Ökologie & Landbau", SÖL).