Late last month, IDH Rwanda hosted a German delegation of representatives from the BMZ, The German Embassy in Rwanda, the Head of German Development Cooperation in Rwanda, and the GIZ Rwanda Team. They visited one of IDH’s partner SMEs, DAVET Ltd, which has joined the IDH project “IDH Horticulture Market-Led SME and Small Holder Farmer Business Support Development in Rwanda (Horti-Export)” since May 2021.
The Horti-Export project, funded by GIZ (Phase I and Phase II), mainly focuses on creating permanent employment opportunities improving working conditions, and increasing smallholder farmer income and export growth in the horticulture sector in Rwanda. Since May 2021, IDH has supported 10 SMEs (four in Phase I and six under Phase II) to commercialize their businesses and further professionalize their operations. By the end of February 2023, 501 permanent jobs (targeted 450 jobs) and 3,234 temporary jobs were created in the value chain, more than 3000 farmers (targeted 2500 farmers) were engaged in commercial agriculture, and export volumes were increased from 25MT/week to 43.6MT/week (targeted 40MT/week).
The purpose of the visit was to witness the project’s achievements through DAVET Ltd, a company that started small as an out-grower of fresh produce to other exporters and has now secured clients in Europe. DAVET Ltd is currently working on the last mile of GlobalGAP certification, with IDH’s support, to start exporting independently.
During the visit, IDH Rwanda Team took the visitors through the IDH value chain approach that starts from the basics of access to quality farm inputs to the adoption of good agricultural practices until linked with premium markets. Better jobs are created in various value chain areas, aiming to professionalize their operations further and become commercially sustainable businesses. DAVET Ltd shared with IDH the journey’s impact and testimonies from smallholder farmers benefiting from the project. The visitors were also taken to the farm to showcase field activities towards export. This visit was a great opportunity for IDH in Rwanda to strengthen the existing working relationship with GIZ and look into future continued collaboration opportunities.
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