RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 128
Cautious pioneering with development projects
All of these projects, which have been set up in
from 1999 onward has become a regular feature
cooperation with local NGOs and organisations,
of Rijk Zwaan’s policy. In 2013, there are many
focus on training, education and technical
different Rijk Zwaan development projects spread
advice and aim to eventually generate their
across three continents, and the first projects have
own income in order to operate independently
already been successfully completed.
and autonomously.
Projects completed by the
Development Cooperation Committee (COS):
1 Students at the FUDI horticultural
school in Guatemala.
2 Project Kusimayo, Peru.
3 Project Aprodes, Peru.
1
“Utz samaj”
Jayro Hernandez
Utz samaj – meaning ‘well done’ in the indigenous Guatemalan language Kaqchiquel – is a
programme by the local NGO FUDI, supported by the COS of Rijk Zwaan since 2002.
The programme aims to encourage small-scale entrepreneurs and especially young people to
grow vegetables professionally and earn a living as self-employed market gardeners.
This is because migration from rural areas to cities or to the United States is a major problem
2
in Guatemala. At the horticultural school in Tepcpán in Guatemala’s Chimaltenango region,
students receive intensive instruction for one year on the entire process from sowing to
harvesting and can gain practical experience in growing a variety of crops. The COS has
helped set up the horticulture course, it supplies the seeds for the school, and the Rijk Zwaan
personnel in Guatemala teach there. Around 100 people from the surrounding area attend the
horticulture course every year.
Former student Jayro Hernandez decided to change tack and start training at Utz Samaj due
3
to the fierce competition in the electrical engineering industry he was working in. Now, thanks
to the training, further support from Utz Samaj and a loan from the bank, he is a successful
budding tomato grower with a greenhouse he built himself. With due pride, he recounts:
‘I’m happy and very proud of my tomatoes. I dream of building more greenhouses and growing
other crops in the future.’
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Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
