The World Vegetable Centre Eastern and Southern Africa in Consensus with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to bolster Organic Vegetable Production and Research

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

Photo Credit: Food First

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Freetown, Sierra Leone- $650,000 has been pumped by FAO as a grant to enhance the center which is headquartered in Arusha District Council.

FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRA) Secretary – Dr. Kent Nnadozie remarked that, the grant will assist organic vegetable seed production and germplasm bank.

“The grant will boost and improve the vegetable agriculture economy in Tanzania, which I believe also can change many economies in Africa especially for small scale farmers” he noted.

He stated presently, WVC has about 7,000 vegetable varieties in its bank while world-wide; there about 1 million varieties of vegetables “WVC must be responsible to make sure that it uses the grant to improve and boost the production of vegetable agriculture together with increasing the production of varieties at the center” he said.

“You need to produce more vegetable species because the current production cannot afford the needs of African market” he added.

WVC Managing Director Dr. Gabriel Rugalema noted, they will utilize the grant to solve the challenges that are presently encountering the center in order to attain their purposes.

“Currently we have 7,000 species of vegetables, our target is to reach up to 15,000 species by next year, but our target is to have 40,000 species by 2030,” he said.

He said FAO’s assistance targets at supporting their efforts in in improving agriculture sector especially vegetable farming.

“Tanzanians must expect quality species from the center, so I urge them to take that opportunities by visiting and using the facility in order to promote our agriculture economy starting with individual level and country as a whole,” Rugalema noted.

WVC all started in 1992 in Arusha. Today the facility has professional research and development staff working across Africa on important vegetable crops such as tomato, pepper, onion and cabbage, as well as a range of African traditional vegetables, and partners with more than 40 national institutions and many international organizations.

The Center operates three regional bases in Africa: in Tanzania for Eastern and Southern Africa, in Mali for West and Central Africa – Dry Regions (established 2014), and in Benin for West and Central Africa – Coastal and Humid Regions (2017).

A liaison office is situated in Cameroon to reach into sub-Saharan Africa with improved vegetable varieties and production technologies.

For New Africa Business News (NABN) Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports, Africa Correspondent