Rwanda has given green light to Israel investors to establish a training center that will offer skills for horticulture development.
Leo Vinovezky, the Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Ethiopia, Burundi and Rwanda resident in Addis Ababa said the center will be built at Mulindi and will train extension service providers.
The center will be jointly run by the ministry of agriculture and Mashav, an Israel agency for International Development Cooperation.
Vinovezky told KT Press that they have vast experience in setting up similar centers of excellence. “We established fifteen Agriculture Centers of Excellence in India. Terrific milestone.”
The center will focus on horticulture, fruits and vegetables. “We aim at displaying best practices in irrigation among others,” Vinovezky said.
Earlier in 2014, Rwanda had engaged the Israel investors to tap into opportunities in the country. Vinovezky says now, “We enter another stage which is the professional implementation. That is why we are bringing engineers, agronomist and other experts.”
Israelis relevant expertise accumulated during its own development experience, as a young country facing similar challenges, believes it can contribute to other developing countries.
Mashav said training of trainers and capacity building activities are the best way to achieve maximum impact in development activity.
Rwanda’s agriculture sector has been the driving force for about 45% of poverty reduction in the last decade. It employs about 70% of the population.
The sector contributes about 35% to the national GDP, and Rwanda sees it as an area with priority development, employing about 70% of the population in the country.
