Yesterday, our Nairobi-based colleagues Feline and Lisa visited Kenya School of Agriculture for the kickoff of the project ‘Market driven training programs for the horticultural sector in Kenya’. This is one of the Nuffic TMT projects won by us earlier this year (official name TMT+ 23-00034), which main goal is to strengthen the connection between the educational and private sector in Kenya. On the one hand, this is important to prepare the next generation agricultural professionals for their career in agriculture, on the other hand to rejuvenate the private sector in terms of innovation and transition into climate neutral agricultural production.
What is the project about?
The public institutions, educational institutes, NGO’s and Kenyan private sector are in need for up to date knowledge and practical demonstration in the field of the (EU)regulatory systems, risk management, (export) market requirements, food safety standards and climate smart agriculture. Therefore, this project’s focus is on the improvement of Food and Nutrition Security in Kenya and Private Sector Development by means of Public-Private Partnerships in the country. It includes the following relevant sustainable development goals: End hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition (SDG 2 Zero Hunger). The long-term goals are: Ending all forms of malnutrition; Promoting agricultural growth; Ecologically sustainable food systems. To reach the stated goals, staff members of Kenya School of Agriculture (educational sector) and FPEAK (private sector) will be capacitated in skills and knowledge in forms of training of trainer weeks, practical demonstrations on demo-plots in Nyeri and (online) consultancy and support on the following topics: Post-Harvest Management with focus on cold chain development, Holistic value chain management, Value addition incl. demonstration of fruit, vegetables and flowers, Business management and export marketing, Food safety standards incl. demo-field demonstration, Quality control in horticulture, Flower quality and vase life, Greenhouse management, Climate smart agriculture, Online learning, Workplace improvement.
We will make use of the:
1) Fully equipped value addition hall at KSA Nyeri:
2) The tomato and pepper greenhouse in Nyeri:
3) The open fields as a demo plot for crop cultivation in Nyeri:
KSA crop demo fields
Together with Kenya School of Agriculture, FPEAK and the other involved training partners, we are looking forward to a fruitful project!
The project will run from July 2023 until August 2024
