![\"\"](\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/israel-rwanda.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\u201cWe have chosen an Israeli company that is actually building the greenhouses and the agricultural facility as a present of the state of Israel to the republic of Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on MASHAV\u2019s Center of Excellence concept that is already thriving throughout India, the facility will employ agricultural technology in order to gradually become a self-sustainable crop production hub, with the aim of ultimately providing fruits and vegetables of export quality, Haskel explained. In addition, the center will serve as a training site for local farmers, agronomists, academics and members of the private sector, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have to develop the entire value chain, not only in agricultural production and growing but also post-harvest treatment and packaging,\u201d Haskel said, noting the farm should be self-sustainable within five years and exporting products within four.<\/p>\n
For now, however, MASHAV representative Boaz Medina will be on the ground fulltime, until the center can function independently.<\/p>\n
As part of the center\u2019s extension work, Medina said that he will also be visiting farmers at their own plots for consultations \u2013 a service that will be free of charge the first year.<\/p>\n
Working with Medina in the extension training services will be Rwandan graduates of agricultural training programs in Israel, such as those at Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee and the AgroStudies agricultural apprenticeship, he said.<\/p>\n
Israeli Agriculture Ministry\u2019s CINADCO: The Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation will be responsible for coordinating the training activities that take place at the center, Yakov Poleg, head of CINADCO, told the Post.<\/p>\n
At the Center of Excellence\u2019s construction site, the bases for the greenhouse, the net house and the walk-in tunnels are all complete, and workers have begun assembling the greenhouse itself, Medina said. All of the structures should be ready by the end of 2016, both he and Haskel confirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course then the real works starts \u2013 the planting, the training and the actual agricultural production activity itself,\u201d Haskel said.<\/p>\n
While Israel operates an agricultural training center together with Italy in Senegal and an avocado production project with the United States in Ethiopia, the Rwandan site will be MASHAV\u2019s first official Center of Excellence in Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cRwanda today is one of the friendliest countries to Israel in Africa,\u201d Haskel said. \u201cPolitical relations are very tight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Israel does not have an embassy in Rwanda \u2013 the Israeli embassy in Ethiopia is also accredited to handle Rwanda and Burundi \u2013 the East African nation opened its embassy in the Jewish state last year. An American-Israeli led solar developer, Gigawatt Global, launched the country\u2019s first utility-scale solar field in February 2015 at the Israeli- inspired Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village east of Kigali.<\/p>\n
\u201cRwanda is a growing country in every aspect,\u201d Medina told the Post. \u201cThe atmosphere for people to receive new technology is very promising. People there are eager to learn, they are educated. There are no security problems there.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far as the Center of Excellence is concerned, Medina said he and his colleagues are \u201ctrying to cooperate with anybody who will be willing to join the wagon.\u201d They are currently in talks with the University of Rwanda College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, in hopes of conducting joint research with the institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not shooting for the stars and saying that we will change the way that people will do agriculture in Rwanda.<\/p>\n
That would be way too big,\u201d Medina said. \u201cWhat we are trying to do is to try to demonstrate to them what the technologies are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hi-tech equipment will not necessarily be the ideal solution for Rwandan farmers due to their high price tag, Medina acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in the center we adapted some units to be economical for them to use, in terms of types of drip irrigation, in terms of [crop] varieties that are not so expensive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will show them how to do it better, that\u2019s the main idea. How much impact we will have \u2013 I can only tell you my wishful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to the very traditional nature of agriculture, Medina said that he is looking with more optimism toward his work with the younger generation, rather than with older farmers, who made be very set in their ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying not to go directly to the farmer but to his kids \u2013 the second generation is much more open, much more willing even to try, up to a certain extent,\u201d he added. \u201cWe might succeed if we go through the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n {“Rwanda is one of the friendliest countries to Israel in Africa.” In the rural greenery of East Africa\u2019s land of a thousand hills, Israeli experts are hoping to reinvigorate Rwanda\u2019s farming sector with the forthcoming launch of a government- to-government agricultural collaboration.} The construction of the Rwanda-Israel Center of Excellence for Horticultural Development, a joint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[2538],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-28410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-the-jerusalem-post"],"bylines":[{"id":2538,"name":"The Jerusalem Post","slug":"the-jerusalem-post","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2538,"name":"The Jerusalem Post","slug":"the-jerusalem-post","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28410"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=28410"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=28410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Construction](\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/horticulture.jpg\")
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