Nationale Postcode Loterij

The Dutch Postcode Lottery (Nationale Postcode Loterij), which has been raising funds for organisations that work for a greener and fairer world since 1989, is the largest charity lottery in the Netherlands. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the lottery tickets are distributed to 85 charitable organisations active in the fields of environmental protection, development cooperation and human rights, among them well-known organisations such as Human Rights Watch and the Clinton Foundation. In 2011, the money distributed by the Postcode Lottery amounted to a total of 284 million euros.

Fairfood International became a beneficiary of the Postcode Lottery in 2009 and this partnership will continue for a period of five years. This announcement was made in the framework of the Goed Geld Gala (Good Money Gala) in February 2010 and welcomed with joy by the Fairfood team. In the three years that Fairfood has been a beneficiary of the Postcode Lottery, it has received a total of 1.5 million euros. With the help of the Postcode Lottery, Fairfood has been able to enlarge its team of advocates from three to nine employees. It now has advocates in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Johannesburg, and New Delhi. As a result, Fairfood’s advocacy efforts towards the food industry has been intensified worldwide. The Postcode Lottery supports Fairfood and its goals with an annual donation of 500.000 euros.

The Postcode Lottery also funds additional projects of their beneficiaries from their extra draw, special projects that could not have been set up within the regular fund. In 2010, Fairfood was awarded 1.1 million euros for the Land of Promise Campaign. For this project, Fairfood focuses attention on the Philippine island of Mindanao, also known as the Land of Promise. The island is home to a rich and unique biodiversity, but nowadays this is dominated by a crop that is not natural to the island, the pineapple. Within the pineapple industry, the land and people of Mindanao are not always taken into account. Long working hours, lack of worker’s rights and intensive use of pesticides are no exceptions. Fairfood, with the support of the Postcode Lottery, will encourage the pineapple industry to become more sustainable and keep Mindanao the Land of Promise for future generations.

More information on The Land of Promise project can be found here.

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