Through education, the Louis Dreyfus Foundation aims to create the conditions for self-reliance among farmers, promote sustainable agricultural practices and train young talents with the potential to change the future of their countries.
The Foundation is mostly active in poor areas characterized by subsistence farming and a population with limited access to education. In this context, training and education have the potential to give rural economies greater autonomy, while equipping them to adapt to changing economic and climatic conditions.
Educational programs sponsored by the Foundation are designed in accordance with specific local needs, covering vocational education, theoretical and technical training, and aim to promote entrepreneurship among local rural communities as a path to empowerment and financial autonomy. Special attention is given to including young, female or remote populations who traditionally have limited or no access to education. Efforts in this sense are already ongoing in Bolivia, at the agricultural school supported by the Foundation, and will also be shortly in Ivory Coast, with a new agricultural school currently under development.
In addition to supporting farmers on their way to self-sufficiency, the Louis Dreyfus Foundation aims to give students with the potential to become future leaders in their countries the opportunity to access the best education. We do this through a scholarship program at Oxford University, as well as previously in South Africa, where the Foundation supported the African Leadership Academy in training talented students and young entrepreneurs in Agriculture.
