The Viña Ardanza Solidario Allocation Committee just announced the agricultural projects that are to be allocated 1% of its annual net profits in 2021. Close to 25 initiatives applied and the recipient NGOs are Amigos de Nyumbani, FISC, ICLI, Manos Unidas and Mundukide Fundazioa, which carry out projects in the DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

After several weeks of deliberation and study of all the submissions, the Committee led by the board member Maite de Aranzabal opted for these “five exciting projects that meet all our requirements after a very difficult selection process in which we had to reject some very interesting initiatives we hope to be able to finance later. On this occasion, a very well designed cooperative vegetable garden project in Benin is awaiting future donations during 2021.”

De Aranzabal also expressed great satisfaction with 2020, when “we beat our record of annual contributions to Viña Ardanza Solidario,” securing in excess of €177,500 “from both the winery's profits and from personal contributions amounting to more than €74,000 received from board members, shareholders, employees and other donors.”

This contribution was particularly significant in 2020, a “very difficult year for everyone, but particularly for impoverished countries where the crisis has been even more cruel due to the closure of borders, trade, schools and, in addition, a very considerable drop in the volume of global donations.”

Thanks to this pioneering initiative among Spanish wineries, La Rioja Alta, S.A. has already allocated 1.2 million euros to agriculture-related cooperation projects.