Using regenerative agricultural practices, the new Veggies 4 Planet & People project will engage women and youth in business activities to improve their incomes, the health of their communities, and the environment.

Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P), a project to engage women and youth in vegetable production and distribution networks to close the ‘vegetable gap’ and improve livelihoods and nutrition, got off to a good start in Ethiopia with an inception meeting from 23-24 February 2021 in Addis Ababa. A similar meeting was held in Kenya, the other V4P&P project country, in late January.

V4P&P project manager Ralph Roothaert greeted the 75 in-person participants and those joining online. Remarks from Gabriel Rugalema, Regional Director, WorldVeg Eastern and Southern Africa; and Worku Behonegne, Country Director from project partner SNV followed. Deputy Head of Oromia Bureau of Agri & Natural Resources Getu Gemechu gave a welcome address, and the State Minister of Agriculture for Inputs and Markets Ayinalem Nigussie Ali, officially opened the meeting.

Participants were briefed by Niko Janssen from the IKEA Foundation, which funds the five-year, 6 million EURO project. Ralph Roothaert then summarized V4P&P: “We aim to strengthen the vegetable sector to improve people’s health, increase employment and safeguard the environment,” he said. “We work with diverse partners to advance vegetable quality, environmentally-friendly production and value chains, while boosting demand for local veggies.”

Project staff discussed regenerative agricultural practices – the base from which all V4P&P activities will grow. The goal is to have at least five such practices (composting, crop rotation, companion planting, integrated pest management, etc.) applied on 0.15 hectares per producer, for a total of 600 hectares.

Vegetable Business Hubs, or VBHs, are another project mainstay. At each VBH, farmer groups will learn production skills to produce vegetables safely and prepare marketing plans to link with consumers and traders. Business coaches will mentor VBN members as they begin to develop local value chains. V4P&P hopes to establish 200 VBNs to engage an estimated 4000 women and youth.

“Value chain development will emphasize traditional African vegetables,” said Ralph. These nutritious crops typically are well-adapted to local conditions. Selection and improvement of amaranth and other traditional crops will encourage the commercial seed sector to become involved in the production and marketing of traditional vegetable seed.

On the second day, meeting participants reviewed and prioritized interventions and looked for ways to generate synergy between individual farmers, VBH groups, project partners, communities, and government. Involving policymakers right from the start and identifying enabling levers within government will help speed the integration of regenerative practices into Ethiopia’s agriculture sector.

After closing remarks by the representative of the State Minister of Horticulture, Wondeale Habtamu, the V4P&P group left the meeting energized and ready to start on activities that will raise the incomes of participating women and youth, offer greater choice and improve the health of vegetable consumers, and ultimately generate more than USD 9 million annually for Ethiopia’s economy.