A new project funded by the IKEA Foundation to engage women and youth in vegetable production and distribution networks aims to close the ‘vegetable gap’ and improve livelihoods and nutrition in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Arusha, Tanzania, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 – The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) in collaboration with partners SNV and Farm Radio International (FRI) today launched the “Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P)” project for Ethiopia and Kenya with support of the IKEA Foundation.

The five-year, €6M project, aims to establish 200 vegetable business networks (120 in Kenya, 80 in Ethiopia) to engage an estimated 4000 women and youth in market activities designed to improve their livelihoods and diets.

Vegetable consumption in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest of any region in the world. “To bridge the ‘vegetable gap’ people need opportunities to produce and market vegetables to generate income,” said WorldVeg’s Ralph Roothaert, the project’s principal investigator. “This will contribute to an accessible, affordable vegetable supply to improve the nutritional quality of their diets.”

Consuming fruit and vegetables as part of the daily diet ensures an adequate intake of most micronutrients, dietary fiber, and essential non-nutrient substances, and can help prevent major non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as heart disease and obesity.

“This project fits perfectly into our strategy to contribute to system change by kickstarting and strengthening agricultural markets and selected commodities, including horticulture,” said Andre de Jager, Managing Director, SNV Netherlands, a partner in V4P&P. “We want to address the root causes of why markets fail to meet the needs of people living in poverty. Vegetable value chains have an enormous, and yet to a large extent, untapped potential to improve the income of smallholder producers, and create employment for women and youth, not only in production but also in service provision, in trading, processing and marketing.”

The V4P&P project will engage ‘business champions’ to guide the formation of Vegetable Business Networks (VBNs) of women and youth as they pursue collective action in vegetable production and marketing in urban and peri-urban areas. The champions will facilitate their networks’ access to information, training, financial or other services, and input/output markets, and serve as liaisons with local governments.

The project places special emphasis on regenerative agricultural technologies including biochar, compost, green manures, crop rotation and beneficial microbes to reduce or eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. “Synthetic pesticides are hazardous to ecosystems and pose health risks to people and animals,” said Roothaert. “People are rightfully concerned about pesticide residues and microbial contamination of their food. We can’t nourish people without nourishing the soil and protecting the planet.”

The VBNs will be positioned to capture rising consumer demand for traditional Africa vegetables such as amaranth, African nightshade, spider plant and Ethiopian mustard. These micronutrient-dense leafy vegetables contain 4 times more iron, 10 times more calcium, and 14 times more vitamin A per 100 g dry matter than common vegetables such as white cabbage.

“Kenya and Ethiopia have seen continuous economic growth over the last years, yet the nutrition outcomes are not improving at the same rate, and malnutrition is still very high,” said Nico Janssen, Programme Manager – Agricultural Livelihoods, IKEA Foundation. “In towns and cities in Ethiopia and Kenya, the demand for so-called traditional African vegetables is rising. This unmet demand offers opportunities for smallholder farmers to diversify and start growing more high-value vegetable crops. We’re excited to be supporting this project, which will focus on developing incomes and jobs from vegetable farming, while at the same time protecting the environment.”

VIDEO: Veggies 4 Planet & People

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World Vegetable Center

The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg), an international non-profit institute for vegetable research and development, mobilizes resources from the public and private sector to realize the potential of vegetables for healthier lives and more resilient livelihoods. WorldVeg’s globally important genebank, improved varieties, production and postharvest methods help farmers increase vegetable harvests, raise incomes in poor rural and urban households, create jobs, and provide healthier, more nutritious diets for families and communities. Field operations in Asia and Africa are led from headquarters in Taiwan and five regional centers in Thailand, India, Tanzania, Mali, and Benin.

 SNV Netherlands

SNV is a not-for-profit international development organization that makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise incomes and access basic services. SNV focuses on agriculture, energy and WASH and has a long-term, local presence in over 25 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

IKEA Foundation

The IKEA Foundation (Stichting IKEA Foundation) works to create a better everyday life for many people. As the philanthropic arm of INGKA Foundation, the owner of the Ingka Group of companies, we focus on improving the lives of vulnerable children by enabling their families to create sustainable livelihoods, and to fight and cope with climate change. Learn more at www.ikeafoundation.org