For example:
On behalf (Citation: Integrated Company Report GIZ 2015, Page 51) of the REWE Group, GIZ International Services is
implementing social, environmental and educational projects in Costa Rica and Panama, which the trading group is financing
from its 'banana fund'. As part of the PRO PLANET sustainability strategy, the fund is being used to improve environmental and
living conditions in the producer countries and to promote responsible banana production. Financed in full by the REWE Group,
the fund is being managed by GIZ. The project work focuses particularly on children and young people. In the communities
adjoining banana plantations, the project is supporting nursery schools as well as youth centres in order to help single
mothers. Sports and leisure projects are also being implemented. Health posts are being better equipped, and solid waste
management and recycling projects are being supported. The project proposals are submitted by local organisations, which means
that local people are involved in the decision-making. A further aim of the project is to enable local organisations to
implement projects for their communities self-reliantly and sustainably. To facilitate this, the board that decides on funding
allocations is advised by a committee of non-governmental organisations. In Panama, the fund was used to reforest 34 hectares
of pastureland and transform it into a biological corridor. As a result some 500 schoolchildren learned what protecting the
environment and conserving natural resources actually means at a practical level, and how important the mangrove forest is for
the ecosystem.