Free Farmers from Poverty & Educate their Children

On August 2^nd we officially launched the joint International Seed Federation (ISF) - Fair Planet Seed Resilience project in Rwanda. The inauguration ceremony took place in the Rwanda–Israel Horticulture Center of Excellence (HCoE) near Kigali. We sowed seeds of tomato, sweet pepper and cabbage from 5 international seed companies - Enza Zaden, Sakata, Indo-American, Hazera and Rijk Zwaan – as well as crops from several local companies including OP varieties in the nursery, and onion and carrot seeds in the field.

Amongst guests were HE Ambassador Dr. Ron Adam, Israel’s Ambassador to Rwanda and his team, Mr. Michael Keller, Secretary General of ISF, Mr. Santosh Attavar, VP of ISF, Ms. Yolanda Huerta, Legal Counsel of UPOV, Mr. Daniel Rwebigo, Division Manager for seeds and fertilizers of RAB and Dr Assinapol Ndereyimana, Horticulture program coordinator of RAB. Beyond the actual planting, we held a small ceremony and cut a ribbon in the nursery.

Building on the successful cross-sectorial approach developed and proven by Fair Planet in Ethiopia, the Seed Resilience Project is being adapted to the particular needs of the local Rwandan farmers. The project will focus on the development of the three food & nutrition pillars: Vitamins (vegetables), Proteins (pulses) and Carbs (potatoes and cereals), and is designed to help 84,000 farmers increase their yield and income, thus contributing to the establishment of local sustainable and more resilient food systems in Rwanda.

Links:

• Harnessing quality seeds for improving food security in Rwanda