PHOTO OP — October 2021

Mr. Harry Kimtai, Principal Secretary, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, met with WorldVeg Director General Marco Wopereis and Country Director Ralph Roothaert to discuss ongoing collaborative work and opportunities for the future. Current WorldVeg activities in Kenya include the Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) project funded by the IKEA Foundation and mungbean research supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the African Union<(AU).

(left to right) Ralph Roothaert, Harry Kimtai, Marco Wopereis

Vincent Matsebula, Agronomist in the Taiwan-Africa Vegetable Initiative (TAVI) in Eswatini, recently guided 106 Grade 7 students and agriculture teacher Mr. Zakhele Hlatjwako to set up a demonstration garden at Ezulwini Roman Catholic Primary School. The students dug 2 x 4 m plots and enriched the soil with compost, then planted 11 different vegetable crops including African nightshade, a hardy, nutritious traditional vegetable. TAVI aims to safeguard vegetable biodiversity for food and nutrition security in Africa. It is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) and the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taipei.