How an Open Source Seed System in Kenya helps local farmers to register, produce and trade crops By Nout van der Vaart, Advocacy Officer Sustainable Food Last week, I visited the Seed Savers Network in Kenya. The organization helps small-scale farmers to identify, store and scale up the seeds of traditional crop varieties. This is […]
Reflections from the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) Conference Global and Regional coffee conferences like the just concluded Africa Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) Conference 2019 have an opportunity to address the key challenges facing the coffee sector, but do they? On 10-15 February 2019, thousands of delegates from multinational coffee organizations, traders, roasters, government and […]
For many years, indigenous and traditional food systems have provided rural communities in Uganda’s Gulu district with diverse, healthier, fresher and more nutritious foods. For the Acholi, indigenous vegetables with strong Acholi cultural attachments, such as cow peas, otigo diri (jute mallow), created a sustainable source of food and income. This thereby improved the […]
By Jaimee Kokonya The Women@Work Campaign (W@W) held its annual partners meeting at the end of February in Kigali, Rwanda. When I was first asked to attend the week-long meeting, I was excited for many reasons. First, I had heard so much about this beautiful city with its tragic and brave history; second, I would […]
The World Bank in 2015 confirmed Kenya as a lower middle income country, a leap from the least developed countries cluster. This follows largely the changes in the size of the economy notably a 25 per cent domestic growth and the rise in the country’s Gross National Income per capita. While income based measures like […]
In Kenya, there is still a long way to go when it comes to gay acceptance and equal rights. Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu made a special film about two girls who fall in love with each other: Rafiki. The film, which is banned in the country, won the Hivos Free to be me Award last week. […]
Tanzania is amongst the world’s top coffee producers. At 30,000-40,000 metric tonnes annually, the country is making its mark in brewing the world’s most favorite beverage. However the taste, flavor and aroma of this popular beverage is filled with twists and turns of inequality. For an avid coffee consumer, the thoughts around the true cost […]
Basically everyone agrees that climate change is the biggest challenge of the coming decades. It is also widely recognized that vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries will be hit hardest by its impact. The consequences have already affected their lives severely. Urgent action is therefore required. As I already laid out in this interview, […]
The cultural and creative sector in East Africa is a sleeping giant. Experts argue that the sector can thrive when given a little push in the right direction. Hivos East Africa’s interest in this sector emerges from the right to free expression. While the sector has the power to stimulate economic growth and social justice, […]
By Immaculate Yossa and Nout van der Vaart Nout van der Vaart and Immaculate Yossa report back from the Fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly There is an inextricable link between food production and consumption, and the health of our environment. While this two-way relationship has long gone largely unseen, the awareness of how […]
By John Kiwagalo For generations, indigenous fruits such as avocado, mango and passion fruit, have been widely praised for their significant role in ensuring biodiversity conservation and for their nutritional value for the Ugandan population. However, these and other indigenous fruits are being increasingly replaced with foreign fruits and manufactured juices. This has affected the […]
This year marks 25 years since the creation of the Hivos-Triodos Fund (HTF). In 1994, the joint initiative of Hivos and Triodos Bank started as one of the first movers worldwide in financial inclusion investments. From its early beginnings, HTF invested in microfinance institutions, making small loans available to entrepreneurs in disadvantaged markets in developing […]