The World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO) has received a grant of $31,325 from the US Agency for International Development Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program to carry out a program proposed by the University of California at Davis entitled, “Extension of Appropriate Postharvest Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Postharvest Training and Services Center.”
WFLO will work with UC Davis, the University of Georgia, and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology to implement a three-year pilot project to establish a Postharvest Training and Services Center near Kigali, Rwanda.
Dr Lisa Kitinoja, WFLO senior technical advisor, will lead a one-year-long intensive postharvest training of trainers program for 30 Africans from Rwanda, Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania, and Benin, who will then work with the HORT CRSP project team to provide training to women farmers and marketers in Rwanda.
Officials in several African nations that will benefit from the project were thrilled with the news.
“The project will impact positively on the livelihoods of our people,” said Mukantwali Christine of the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda/ISAR.
“This is very good news for a worthy cause,” said Lusike A Wasilwa, PhD, of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.
Bertha Mjawa, Tanzania Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said, “This is indeed very good news. I have high hopes that excellent output will be delivered due to the strong team of implementing members. I am eager to work on the project.”
For more information, visit www.wflo.org.
