Celebrating the amazing achievements of the Taiwan Africa Vegetable Initiative

The Taiwan Africa Vegetable Initiative (TAVI) end of project workshop took place on 14 March 2024 in Manzini, Eswatini, attended by more than 150 participants – a day full of festive mood given the remarkable impacts that the project had. There were speeches celebrating the partnerships and collaboration between the governments of Eswatini and Taiwan, the World Vegetable Center, TAVI implementing partners, and many other stakeholders. Participants also reflected on the implementation process and lessons learned, before discussing ways forward in the 2024 transition phase, and beyond.

A wonderfully colorful recipe book with 46 dishes including traditional African vegetables was also launched.

Eswatini traditional vegetable recipes in the 21st century

Principal speakers were His Excellency Ambassador Jeremy Liang, Ambassador of Taiwan in the Kingdom of Eswatini; Sydney Simelane, Principal Secretary in the Eswatini Ministry of Agriculture; Grace Lin, Department of External Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Taiwan; Marco Wopereis, Director General of the World Vegetable Center.

Sydney Simelane described the importance of conserving and utilizing genetic resources including traditional vegetables, for diversifying agricultural production, improving diets, enhancing resilience, and creating wealth. He thanked WorldVeg and the Republic of China (Taiwan) for bringing this project which actively conserves ‘forgotten foods’ in Eswatini. He said TAVI has assisted the country in conserving and sustainably utilizing vegetable biodiversity, but also raised awareness on the rich diversity in the country.

Marco Wopereis reminded us that TAVI was a response to the rapid decline in vegetable and fruit biodiversity due to urbanization, industrialization, changes diets, and climate change. He stated that over the past three years, TAVI exceeded all its targets thanks to the enthusiasm, commitment and shared vision of partners in the four implementing countries. He highlighted TAVI achievements in areas of germplasm collection, capacity building, and development of an African ‘rescue plan’, publications, and the number of beneficiaries. He labelled traditional African vegetables as not forgotten crops, but opportunity crops…, and thanked the Government of Eswatini for hosting the World Vegetable Center and the Government of Taiwan for funding the TAVI project.

Sydney Simelane, and Marco Wopereis, making their remarks during the workshop

Grace Lin said she was honoured to witness the achievements of the TAVI project and envisioned the potential of traditional African vegetables and their future impact. She expressed that through these collective efforts, TAVI will continue to contribute significantly to food security in Africa, and provide diversified nutritional sources. She sent her gratitude to the Eswatini government and partners from within and outside Eswatini for working together to make TAVI such a success.

His Excellency, Ambassador Jeremy Liang sent special thanks to the World Vegetable Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education and Training, Eswatini, and other partners from Eswatini, Benin, Tanzania and Madagascar for successfully implementing the TAVI project. He stated that as a close development partner for Eswatini, they have recognized the high nutritional value and easy cultivation of traditional African vegetables. He mentioned that the TAVI project embodies the spirit of “Taiwan can help”, and that through partnership with government agencies, civil society organizations and international development partners, TAVI team work has significantly expanded the number of beneficiaries in Eswatini and beyond. He also cited TAVI as a project which fulfils the commitment to prosperous mutual development between Eswatini and Taiwan, and further allows Taiwan to fulfil their responsibility as a development partner in the international community.

Maarten van Zonneveld, Head of Genetic Resources at WorldVeg and TAVI project manager, presented the overall achievements of TAVI, while representatives from partners in Eswatini, Benin, Tanzania and Madagascar presented their own specific accomplishments. Dishes prepared from traditional African vegetables included in the newly launched recipe book were exhibited and tasted by all, and a ‘declaration’ banner was signed by partners and stakeholders to show their commitment in pushing the agenda of bringing back traditional African vegetables to Eswatini.

TAVI is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan. It is implemented by the World Vegetable Center, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education and Training, Eswatini; the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin; the National Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Tanzania; and the National Center for Applied Research on Rural Development (FOFIFA) and University of Antananarivo, Madagascar.