Annual Report 2023

Foreword | 3 Dear Readers, The RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation was established and began its work during the year 2022, and we now present this Annual Report, which covers our fi rst ‘full’ fi nancial year. Viewed against the eternity that a foundation can exist, we are still in our infancy. This refl ects both the need to learn and the wonderful freedom that comes with being able to do so. We trust that we are ready for this experience. For example, last year, we redefi ned our criteria. Although the purposes of our foundation cover several fi elds of activity, including education, mutual understanding between different peoples, and health care, it is organic farming – as a sustainable practice that is benefi cial both to people and the environment, that is and remains at the root of all we do. For this reason, even when the measures we support are not rooted solely in organic agriculture, they should still maintain a point of reference if not directly to organic agriculture, then at least to an adjacent fi eld. In this sense, possible measures might include the preservation of biodiversity, forest protection, or climate-compatible nutritional education. Another thing that we learned over the year 2023 was how essential the aforementioned goal of promoting education is. A regrettable downside to our social and technical development – which we nevertheless use and welcome for the benefi ts and freedoms they afford us – is that children and teenagers have less and less space for experience, where they can fi nd out for themselves what such things as bonding, unity and self-realisation really mean. Such a space can be seen, for instance, in a school garden or horticulture class. This is why we are glad that in addition to promoting schools particularly in the Global South, we can also provide vegetable gardens for schools in our region. We will continue in this direction, and have made preparations to expand our involvement in education in 2023. Margarethe Epple Joseph Wilhelm Rosalie Dorn The Board of Directors of the Foundation

Overview of our projects and initiatives | 5 OVERVIEW OF OUR PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES In 2023, we approved funding for 32 initiatives and projects all over the world. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE SUPPORTING IN 2023 Our funding serves to strengthen organic agriculture and seeds, support education – from kindergartens to schools and on to training and further training – and enable eco-social projects with an emphasis on the Global South. We have also initiated emergency aid for environmental protection measures, such as bee projects and forest protection. WHERE WE ARE ACTIVE Besides measures in Germany, Switzerland, and the European Union, we have also supported projects in the following countries: Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Gambia, Benin, Uganda, Tanzania, Turkey, India, Laos and the Philippines. You can discover more about our initiatives on the following pages.

Strengthening organic agriculture | 7 reaching cities and national parks. This so-called remote transport of pesticide agents is still not being accorded suffi cient consideration in European pesticide certifi cation procedures. We therefore support the Alliance for an Agriculture Suitable for our Grandchildren for enabling independent research into agricultural toxins. In addition, the Alliance is compiling a roadmap towards agriculture suitable for our grandchildren, in dialogue with representatives from agriculture, science, politics and civil society. MORE ORGANICS IN BRUSSELS IFOAM Organics Europe is a European umbrella organisation for organic agriculture and nutrition. For the last 20 years, it has been working towards achieving an ecological transformation in agriculture. We support IFOAM Organics Europe with multi-year funding to ensure that whenever negotiations are held in Brussels, organic farmers also have their say. NETWORKING AND TRAINING: ECOLOGICAL FARMING WORLDWIDE IFOAM Organics International is the worldwide umbrella organisation for organic farming and nutrition and has performed vital activities for organic agriculture, including establishing an organic standard in many countries. With the Organic Academy, IFOAM plans to expand and develop the global ecological network. The Organic Academy provides local training for pioneers and managers from all over the world – with the emphasis on farmer-led organisations in the Global South. Core themes include common ecological and agrar-ecological practices, market penetration for small farmers. We are funding the onward development of the Organic Academy for three years (2023–2025). TRAINING YOUNG PEOPLE IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE Without motivated and well-trained young newcomers, organic farming stands no chance in the future. Which is why in 2023, we are again supporting biodynamic training, which is implemented by six sponsors. This three-year dual programme of professional training is consistently ecologically based and oriented towards the ideal of a diverse and, as far as possible, closed operational cycle, both in theory and in practice. Over the course of their training, trainees also spend time working and familiarising themselves with a variety of activities, in line with customary practices. EDUCATIONAL OFFENSIVE FOR FERTILE SOILS Fertile, humus-rich soils have become increasingly endangered in recent decades, due to the intensive land use that they are subjected to. Soil degradation has proven to be one of the greatest global challenges facing us, alongside climate change and the loss of biodiversity. This is why we support the Bioland Foundation’s ‘BODEN BILDEN’ soil education offensive. It motivates farmers and advisers to protect soils, informs them of the latest research fi ndings, and familiarises them with methods taken from practice that serve to preserve and promote soil fertility. POISONS IN OUR FIELDS? NO THANK YOU! An academic study conducted in 2020 by the Alliance for an Agriculture Suitable for our Grandchildren (Bündnis für eine enkeltaugliche Landwirtschaft) and the Munich Environmental Institute (Umweltinstitut München) demonstrated the extent to which many pesticides that are damaging both to our health and to the environment become dispersed in the air, even

SEED FUND – WHY ORGANIC SEEDS ARE SO IMPORTANT We regard organic seeds as an essential component of future-proof ecological agriculture. We see the cultivation of organic seeds as a key towards restoring the diversity of crop plants and creating resilient agricultural ecosystems. Which is why we provide funding for the Seed Fund of the Future Foundation for Agriculture. PASTA FROM SEEDFAST VARIETIES Although Italy is the world leader in processing organic durum wheat, especially for pasta, it also has to import organic durum wheat from abroad. As there are no cultivation programmes for ecological agriculture in the country, organic farmers have to choose between conventional varieties and old ones that do not always meet the requirements of the farmers. Through the Fintan Foundation, we support an international cultivation project with several partners, including Fondazione Seminare il Futuro and Getreide- züchtung Peter Kunz – for a variety of durum wheat that meets contemporary needs. ORGANIC TOMATOES Rapunzel Naturkost has been fi nancing the cultivation of organic and seedfast seeds for a long time. The RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation has taken up this commitment and supports the development of organic tomato varieties by the Swiss Fintan Foundation and its project partner, Sativa Rheinau. In contrast to the diversity of tomato cultivation in domestic gardens, there are very few examples of organic cultivation for industrial organic tomato growing. The fi rst variety was developed by Sativa in the form of the ‘Mauro Rosso’. It is already used in agricultural practice. Another line breed is being developed based on this variety. In the end, the goal of organic cultivation always has to be to achieve a suitable diversity of varieties. ORGANIC SUNFLOWER SEEDS The majority of sunfl owers grown nowadays are hybrid, even on organic farms. The reason? There is simply no other type available on the seed market. It is for this reason that, together with a number of other Organic seeds – the seeds of our future | 9 organic companies, Rapunzel Naturkost supports the Organic Sunfl ower Seed Initiative (IBS). The goal of the initiative is to cultivate high-oleic (HO) organic sunfl ower varieties. In 2023, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation is supporting the Fintan Foundation’s cultivation project. WE ADVOCATE INFORMATION ACTIVITIES: IG SAATGUT In 2023, we also provide funding for IG Saatgut, the interest group for GMO-free seed cultivation. Since 2005, it has been advocating information and public relations activities for GMO-free seed cultivation. The aim of the interest group is to preserve and develop crop plant diversity and to develop solutions for a wide range of needs. At the same time, IG Saatgut is urging the regulation of so-called new genetic engineering. This is because the current plans of the EU Commission threaten the loss of mandatory labelling and traceability of genetically modifi ed plants. NEW KINDS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING – FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND RISK ASSESSMENT The 16-page ‘Dossier on New Genetic Engineering’, a special print by the Schrot & Korn magazine, contains information about the new forms of genetic engineering, their benefi ts and risks, and the possible consequences for cultivation, agriculture, the food industry, and consumption. The aim is enable readers to take part in the debate on future regulation of both the techniques and the organisms. We contributed funding to enable the print.

RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The solar initiative IMAGINE LIGHT works to ensure that the indigenous peoples in the rain forests of Costa Rica and Panama have access to renewable energy. People from the communities are trained as solar power technicians, which enables them to install, maintain and repair solar modules. This measure is just one part of a more comprehensive regional initiative that not only works to empower women in the indigenous Cabecar, Bribri and Embera communities, but also promotes agroforestry and stimulates improvements in education, food security and other areas of daily life. Eco-social projects all over the world | 11 BOLIVIA: RESTORING DEGRADED ECOSYSTEMS Quinoa grows in the rough Andean highlands up to an altitude of 4,000 metres. The increasing demand throughout the world for this nutritious pseudo- cereal is creating new income opportunities for the local people, which is a blessing for the economically underdeveloped highland regions. At the same time, the quinoa boom has also started placing excessive demands on the fragile soils of the Andean highlands. For a number of years, ECOTOP has been conducting fi eld tests and information activities, also supported by Rapunzel Naturkost, for ecological and regenerative quinoa cultivation. In 2023, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation approved three years of funding to enable these measures to be implemented in two communities in the southern Bolivian highlands. The aim is to apply methods of dynamic agroforestry to restore the ecosystems, increase the fertility of the soil, and protect it from wind erosion. In 2023, fi fteen technicians were trained in various communities. This number also includes fi ve women from the Cabecar and Embera peoples. This is a signifi cant achievement, as it is not an easy matter to mobilise women to become solar technicians in a culture of gender-based social and cultural roles and norms. A further aim is to improve the resilience of cultivation in the face of changing climatic conditions, such as longer frost periods, increasing wind, and longer droughts. It is particularly important to sensitise young people in the two communities and to empower them with new forms of self-organisation.

Eco-social projects all over the world | 13 of their nutrition, the Timbaktu Collective promotes the cultivation of vegetables by conducting fi eld studies, training, seed cultivation and other measures. One World Organic Foundation, a wooden kitchen to be built, representing a considerable improvement in the health and hygiene conditions of around 80 children. FOREST PROTECTION AND INCLUSION Life-giving Forest e. V. supports people with disabilities in the Philippines in planting and maintaining tropical rainforests and creating sustainable income sources in the fi eld of agriculture and forestry, as well as participating in society. Together with local self-help groups, the group is building a demonstration farm for ecological agroforestry, including a tree nursery, on the Philippine island of Luzon. Besides raising awareness, protecting plant species, and supporting social inclusion, the project aims to improve nutrition security. The Timbaktu Collective is building up distribution structures in the Sri Sathya Sai district. In 2023, the core measure was to set up and open a store for organic food products. Fifty farming families profi t from selling their organic produce, while another 250 received training over the course of the project phase. Moreover, four young people were able to gain business experience in sales and store management. Around 300 families are now regular customers with access to organically produced fresh food. The work of Life-giving Forest has been funded for several years by Rapunzel and the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation. NATURAL FARMING SYSTEM ON THE PHILIPPINES The Cebu Southern Ecological Farm and the Inner Vision e.V., have established training courses in ecological agriculture on the Philippine island of Cebu, with the support of Rapunzel Naturkost. So far, 20 small farmers have successfully completed this training. In 2023, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation promoted the consolidation and continuation of this training. Thirty farmers, both men and women, have organised themselves as the FSNOA (Farmers’ Solidarity for Natural and Organic Agriculture), where they are given organic training and apply what they learn in their own businesses. LAOS: A KITCHEN BUILDING FOR 165 SCHOOLCHILDREN The middle school in the mountain village of Phouluang in Laos has 165 pupils, half of whom come from the surrounding villages and live at the school during the school year. They used to prepare their meals in simple small wooden huts, where they also shared their living, sleeping and learning space with other pupils. Education for Life has repeatedly supported the school with infrastructure measures such as a water supply and toilets. Thanks to the funding provided by the RAPUNZEL

Empowering women – a community garden in Gambia | 15 The Musolula Gardino community garden is improving the nutritional security of the village’s residents. The women sell any surplus they make, which enables them to generate their own income. This strengthens the position of the women, reduces gender inequality, and has a positive effect on the children’s education. MUSOLULA GARDINO The village of Boraba on the Gambia river in West Africa is located around 250 km or fi ve hours drive from the Gambian capital of Banjul; the majority of its inhabitants are women, children and old people. The women have hardly any means of generating their own income in the village, and many of them have only ever received rudimentary schooling. The infrastructure is underdeveloped: There are no structures in the village to enable shopping for food, nor is there any electricity or fl owing water. After only nine months, many of the measures have already been implemented. What still remains is to build the well. This will be the next step. The well is absolutely essential for the garden, since the women would otherwise have to transport the water they need for irrigation over long distances. As soon as the well is ready to use, they will be able to begin sowing seeds and planting seedlings. The land has already been prepared by the village community and the fence is complete. In addition, fi ve bee hives have already become settled there, with presumably more to follow. The newly founded Nyodeema Foundation e.V. was initiated by a German-Gambian family and works to implemented a village garden together with the village community. There are already 80 women involved in the project. The women grow vegetables over half a hectare of land, along with a variety of fruit trees. They also keep bees. The women are given training by local experts in the methods of organic farming and beekeeping. A fence protects the site from straying tigers, while a well enables them to irrigate the crops and a recently completed building serves as a tool store and processing house.

Hekima – a school for the future of Africa | 17 HEKIMA GIRLS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL IN TANZANIA The Hekima Girls’ Secondary School near Bukoba on Lake Victoria offers further school education for around 400 girls. For the women of this rural and economically weak region of Tanzania, going to school offers great opportunities. The school has an outstanding reputation nationwide. Graduates are qualifi ed to continue to an institute of higher education. At the same time, the school attaches great value to integrating organic farming into its teaching curriculum. OUR MEASURES Rapunzel Naturkost has been supporting the Hekima school for around 20 years. The RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation has taken up this commitment. In 2022, we approved the funding for the construction of new school toilets. This grant was paid out in 2023, and the building is already approaching completion. In 2011, the fi rst solar power system was installed in the school with help from Rapunzel Naturkost. In 2023, we supported its repair by providing funding for spare parts and replacing the power inverter. Gardening work and training in organic farming are an integral part of everyday school life. The girls then take this knowledge home with them, where they are able to pass it on and set off a process of gradual change towards a more environmentally friendly agriculture. Just how important this is apparent from the growing infl uence of international agrarian companies in Tanzania. While up until that point we mainly supported infrastructure measures at the school, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation now also provides the school fees for girls from a poor, generally small farming background, who would otherwise not have had a chance to attend a further education school. We guarantee payment of the school fees of 20 girls to cover an educational course lasting four years, including school equipment and an emergency reserve, for instance, for medical treatment.

Education and eco-social involvement in Germany and the region | 19 “Education and the promotion of children and teenagers is a contribution to the future. Which is why we support, for example, vegetable gardens at schools, whether here in Germany in the region Allgaeu or in Africa, where they take on a fully different meaning as a contribution to nutrition security.” Chairman of the Board, Joseph Wilhelm VEGETABLE GARDENS AT SCHOOLS In 2023, the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation approved funding for three school gardens in the region. Two of these will begin working on their school fi eld in spring 2024. INTERVIEW WITH KRISTINA WUCHER School director of the Martinszell primary school Foundation: Ms. Wucher, what motivates you to create a school garden? Kristina Wucher: Children nowadays are so far removed from natural cycles, even here in the countryside. And to really understand something, you need to touch it with our own hands... Foundation: What other wish do you have for the garden? Kristina Wucher: That children are able to discover that food is associated with work. At the same time, it is my hope that children will think of the garden as a small, calm oasis. programme known as educational The the “GemüseAckerdemie” is implemented by Acker e. V. The group supports the gardens over four years, giving the schools enough time to amass the knowledge and experience they need to anchor their garden to the school. FOREST KINDERGARTENS IN THE REGION Not only in 2022, but also again in 2023, fi ve nature education facilities in the Allgäu and Upper Swabia regions received a Christmas donation. Forest and nature kindergartens offer children a wide breadth of experience over the entire cycle of the year. This serves to stimulate their sensual perception, motoric development, and social skills. At the same time, children experience the seasonal rhythms and develop a sensitivity for ecological interconnections.

Emergency relief | 21 EARTHQUAKE AID FOR ORGANIC APRICOT FARMERS IN TURKEY In February 2023, the border area between Turkey and Syria was ravaged by devastating earthquakes. The RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation provided support for the families affected by the earthquake in the Turkish region of Malatya. Together with the agricultural engineers from Rapunzel Turkey, the Foundation provided prefabricated residential buildings for the now homeless organic farmers involved in the Rapunzel Turkey cultivation project. EL NIÑO: IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE FOLLOWING THE FLOODS IN PERU In May 2023, Cyclone Yaku caused massive fl ooding in the North of Peru, as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon. A huge number of houses and farmland areas, not to mention a large amount of infrastructure in the region of Piura, was destroyed. Small farming families from the Norandino cooperative, which supplies coffee to Rapunzel Naturkost, were also affected. By providing immediate assistance, we were able to supply around 1000 families with food, school materials, clothing and medicines, in association with the local Fundación Cepicafé organisation. EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR RAPUNZEL EMPLOYEES Employees of Rapunzel Naturkost and affi liated companies, who through no fault of their own suddenly fi nd themselves in need of emergency aid, can apply for assistance when their physical, mental or emotional state situation means they are in urgent need of help. In 2023, a one-time donation in kind was made to help alleviate this urgent personal need. We also fi nanced the agricultural equipment that was destroyed by the earthquakes, including fruit boxes for the organic apricot harvest. We plan to further our support for the affected region.

Environment – bees and forest protection | 23 Based on the fi ndings of Boff’s study, a non-lethal test can be developed in which a smear is taken from the surface of the wild bees’ bodies and their chemical fi ngerprint determined using a standardised procedure. Such a test procedure would be the fi rst of its kind and represents an important step towards better protecting the biodiversity of pollinators on agricultural land. FOREST PROTECTION AND REFORESTATION is a global movement that Plant-for-the-Planet encourages young and old to restore forests and fi ght for climate justice. Since 2010, the regional group’ ‘Göttingen plants’ has been dedicating itself to local reforestation to promote biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Specifi cally, the aim is to perform urgently needed species-rich reforestation to create deciduous and mixed forests that are resistant to aridity. In addition, it maintains meadow orchards and supports organic operations in integrating elements of agroforestry. With all of its campaigns, ‘Göttingen plants’ offers a professional forest education programme for children and teenagers. Because joint experience and action are an integral part of its activities. “When many trees are felled, they need to be replaced by new ones, and many trees bind CO2 and produce oxygen”, says Greta, who participates in the project, explaining her motivation. “And because it is just fun planting things. I have never planted trees and done something to start a forest before.” ECOLOGICAL BEEKEEPING The number of people engaged in beekeeping in Germany is on the rise. Many of them are motivated by a desire to make a contribution that is sustainable and of ecological value. However, beekeeping courses frequently propagate the maxims of professional beekeepers, whose various interventions in the hive are often for reasons of economic effi ciency. Such beekeeping cannot be considered ecological, and many with a real interest in bees are coming to realise that their ecological ideas are not actually being fulfi lled, or at best only partly. This is why Mellifera e.V. offers training courses for bee enthusiasts who wish to conduct genuinely ecological beekeeping. The organisation has already trained thousands of people in their introductory course entitled ‘The Yearly Bee Cycle’ (‘Mit den Bienen durchs Jahr’). Mellifera is now testing out its training programme to make experienced beekeepers aware of its campaign aimed at raising interest in ecological beekeeping. This pilot project is being conduct at several sites. PROTECTION OF WILD BEES This is the fi rst time that we are co-fi nancing a scientifi c study about biodiversity and the reproduction of wild bees on agricultural land, conducted by the Aurelia Foundation. The aim is to understand the effect that differences in agricultural management forms have on the life of wild bees. The funding has enabled the research assistant Dr. Samuel Boff of the University of Ulm to conduct his project ‘Diversity and reproduction of solitary bees on ecological and conventional agricultural farms’.

Donations | 25 DONATIONS Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH has committed itself to making annual donations to the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation. Donations are also made by private individuals and other organisations. Rapunzel HAND IN HAND donation Rapunzel Organic Cents (“Bio-Cent”) From the company’s own HAND IN HAND fair trade programme, Rapunzel guarantees the foundation an annual so-called HAND IN HAND donation (formerly HAND IN HAND fund, established in 1998). It amounts to one percent of the purchase value of HAND IN HAND raw materials that the company buys per calendar year from HAND IN HAND partners, i.e. its fair trade suppliers. The funds are used to fi nance ecological and social projects in countries of the Global South. Rapunzel Naturkost generates further donations for the Foundation with its Bio-Cent scheme, which was initiated in 2022. For every product sold, the company donates one cent to the Foundation – a small amount with a big total effect. The Bio-Cent scheme has been multiplying the amount of the HAND IN HAND donation made each year by Rapunzel since 1998. As such, it permanently strengthens the foundation. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT We would sincerely like to thank all private and corporate donors! It is thanks to your generous support for a sustainable world that we are able to implement these projects for people, plants, animals and the environment. Every donation makes a difference and has an effect. A selection of our donor partners:

ASSET STATEMENT AS OF 31.12.2023 ASSETS Fixed assets I. Financial assets 1. Investment securities Total fi xed assets B. Current assets Asset statement as of 31.12.2023 | 27 Financial year Previous year EUR EUR 474,000.00 474,000.00 474,000.00 474,000.00 I. Receivables and other assets 1,535.10 0.00 646,793.64 125,798.62 648,328.74 125,798.62 65.45 130.90 1,122,394.19 599,929.52 Financial year Previous year EUR EUR 500,000.00 500,000.00 103,619.00 468,579.52 20,000.00 30,195.67 18,527.00 76,402.52 5,000.00 0.00 1,122,394.19 599,929.52 II. Cash in hand, cash deposited with the Bundesbank, cash at banks and cheques Total current assets C. Deferred items TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES A. Equity I. Set-up capital II. Reserves 1. Revenue reserve a) Free reserves III. Result carried forward B. Provisions C. Payables TOTAL LIABILITIES

Financial statement | 29 OUR FUNDING PRIORITIES Our thematic priorities are represented by many projects. For this distribution, we have considered each essential theme. The expended project and similar funding of EUR 286.122,19 is distributed over 32 projects. These can be assigned to the following thematic areas: Organic agriculture 28 % Organic seeds 19 % Environment 12 % Education 16 % Social 25 % GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE SUPPORTED PROJECTS Germany 34 % Europe 16 % Africa 19 % Asia 19 % Central and South America 9 % Global 3 %

| 31 Your support has an effect ACCOUNT FOR DONATIONS TO THE RAPUNZEL ONE WORLD ORGANIC FOUNDATION Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg IBAN: DE44 6005 0101 0004 1028 49 SWIFT/BIC: SOLADEST600 DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? Please contact us: E-Mail: info@rapunzelbiostiftung.de Tel.: +49 (0)83 30 5 29-13 20