"Fruits of cooperation have been manifold"

Robert Hermanowski is an agricultural economist and has been involved in organic agriculture in Germany since 1985. In 2000, he co-founded FiBL Germany and has been its director since 2002.

My first contact with FiBL...

... was in the mid-1990s. With an "input list", little Switzerland had achieved something that we in Germany had not (yet) managed. Impressive, I thought, we should keep our eyes on that.

Together against genetic engineering

At the beginning of the 90s, there was still a discussion about whether the new genetic engineering technology could have a place in organic farming: How to avoid contamination? Will there still be additives without genetic engineering in the future? Can genetic engineering and organic farming coexist? In order to address the challenges, we founded the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik ALOG (Working Group on Food without Genetic Engineering) in Germany at that time and asked FiBL whether it would participate.

My first visit to Frick...

... is still ingrained in my memory. First of all: the area was surprisingly flat, at most there are some hills; after all you associate Switzerland with mountains. Then, very impressive: an institute dedicated to organic farming. Then the director welcomed us personally and on a first-name basis, very surprising. The result of the visit was that FiBL joined ALOG.

Founding FiBL Germany: not everyone was enthusiastic

Founding FiBL Germany (initially called FiBL Berlin) in 2000 was met with great scepticism. The German organic associations were sceptical of the fact that something was being developed over which they had little influence. But even in the founding group there were discussions about losing one’s independence by joining the large organisation. And in Frick there were sceptical voices who feared that the good reputation might suffer if something new were to emerge under the FiBL name.

The little sister emancipates herself

The relationship between FiBL Switzerland and FiBL Germany can probably best be compared to a relationship between siblings. They have a lot in common, a lot of trust, they have known each other for a long time. And: the younger one always remains the little sister, even if she has long since grown up. But anyway: siblings stick together and usually love each other.

Fruits of cooperation...

... have been manifold. FiBL Switzerland, for example, has been instrumental in helping us set up our own livestock section. Together we play a leading role in the assessment of inputs. We have jointly promoted the establishment of FiBL Europe. The Science Conference 2023, which was overseen by FiBL Germany, was held in Frick. The list goes on and on after more than 20 years of cooperation.

My wishes for the big FiBL sister

What big sister wants advice from the younger one? But I'll give it a try anyway. First of all, I wish for FiBL Switzerland to continue to have great self-confidence without overdoing it. To know your own value is important in order to position yourself correctly in terms of content and structure and to integrate yourself into networks. I also hope that FiBL Switzerland will be able to find the right balance between creativity and flexibility and the necessary bureaucratisation in view of its rapid growth.

Daring to be more European

Whatever the case, Switzerland or Germany, nationalities are becoming less and less important, we must dare to become more European and work intensively on FiBL Europe.