The Ministry of Agriculture n Animal Resources (MINAGRI) in cooperation with MASHAV - the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation have inaugurated a new agricultural center dubbed ‘Rwanda-Israel Horticulture Center of Excellence’ to streamline Rwanda’s horticulture industry.

The horticulture center of excellence, established at Mulindi in the City of Kigali through the cooperation between Rwanda and Israel, comes to strengthen the technical know-how of Rwandan researchers, extension agents and small and commercial farmers, through transfer of hands on skills among others.

During the inauguration ceremony on April 01, 2019, the Government of Rwanda and MASHAV also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) to promote the agriculture development in Rwanda through the inaugurated center of excellence.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, DrGerardineMukeshimana, said that this Horticulture Center of Excellence inauguration and new MoU signing are important milestones in the context of contributing to the improvement of the horticultural production, and human capacity building in Rwanda through MASHAV’s expertise.

“This is in line with our fourth Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture (PSTA 4). As you may know, in this strategy, among others, we aim at raising production and profits per hectare through increasing agricultural yields and switching to higher value agricultural commodities, such as horticulture, animal products and fisheries,” the minister said. “In this regard, I would like to assure the State of Israel that the Government of Rwanda will continue to support the Horticulture Center of Excellence, especially as it contributes to the mmodernization of Rwanda’s Agricultural Sector in general and horticulture in particular.”

Ambassador Yuval Rotem, the Director General of Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that this is the biggest project of MASHAV in Africa.
“We are making significant investments to be able to bring knowledge and knowhow to the people of here based on Israel experience, that hundreds of farmers and people who are dealing in agriculture in Rwanda will be trained and they are going to be in position to have by far more quality, by far more quantity, and above all, it is going to bring more income to the people. This is exactly the kind of cooperation that we are looking forward to enhance,” the Israeli Director General said.
Since December 1, 2014; Rwanda and the State of Israel entered into bilateral cooperation for skills upgrading in the agriculture sector in general and in horticultural sector in particular. A program to expose students from Rwanda to advanced technologies through a hands on training in Israel, and establishment of the Rwanda-Israel Horticulture Center of Excellence are the key milestones.

From June 2016 to March 2019, the Center of Excellence trained 564 beneficiaries including agriculturists from Government institutions and NGOs, students and farmers. About 30 different varieties of vegetables have also been tested for adaptation to Rwandan conditions while 9 varieties of different types of fruits (avocado, mango and citrus) are being introduced to Rwanda. A total of 17,200 seedlings, rootstocks and seeds have been in the horticulture center nursery for acclimatization and thereafter will be transferred to Rwandan Farmers.