Agriculture is the backbone of Rwanda’s economy. The sector employs approximately 70% of the population, mostly smallholder farmers with less than one hectare organized in cooperatives. The Government of Rwanda recognizes agriculture as a key driver of economic growth and poverty reduction. A National Coffee Strategy honors the fact that coffee is a major export crop in Rwanda and accounts for about 20% of the country's total exports. The Government of Rwanda also actively promotes organic farming.

Despite significant progress, a number of challenges remain for Rwanda's agricultural sector in general, and for organic coffee farmers in particular. Through this project, Naturland will help coffee growers in Rwanda address key challenges - including climate resilience, soil protection, gender equality and income security.

Following a fact-finding mission, Naturland selected seven Rwandan coffee-growing companies and cooperatives as project partners. These seven partners will be supported in their conversion towards organic agroforestry systems. The project is designed to achieve a broad impact:

• The over 100 current employees of the seven partners will benefit from qualification measures and better job security.  
• The over 3,600 member farmers working with the seven partners will benefit from improved working conditions due to higher social and fair-trade standards. 
• Due to the value added by converting to higher organic and fair trade standards, additional employment opportunities will be created. Special attenion will be given to job opportunities for women and young people.
• The seven partners will receive help in establishing new tree nurseries. Coffee-shading (crop) trees will be planted on over 300 hectares of smallholder farmer land. This will provide farmers with additional income, capture CO2, mitigate soil erosion and boost local biodiversity.
• Promoting on-farm composting will improve soil fertility, climate resilience and productivity.

The project is supported by the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others. The Special Initiative, which also operates under the brand Invest for Jobs, aims to team up with companies to create good jobs and improve working conditions and social protection in its eight partner countries in Africa, including in Rwanda.

Duration: 2023 – 2025 (21 months)

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Funding

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Chamber and association partnership ("Kammer- und Verbandspartnerschaften", KVP) between Naturland e.V. and the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA) in Vietnam

We want organic agriculture to be the standard, not the alternative. In accordance with this principle, Naturland aims to boost organic farming in key regions such as Southeast Asia. With over 98 million inhabitants, Vietnam has a fast-developing economy. The agricultural sector has helped drive economic development and contributed to food security. In 2020, agriculture contributed 14% to GDP and 38% to employment. However, farmers are still disproportionately affected by poverty.

Organic farming has been developing in Vietnam since the mid-1990s. Increasingly, smallholders are organizing into Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) groups, a locally focused quality assurance system. Nevertheless, advocacy for organic farming is still weak, service provision for actors along the value chain remains inadequate and the Vietnamese population lacks confidence in locally produced products.

The goals of this project are to support the expansion of organic farming in Vietnam and to stimulate the demand of Vietnam's certified organic products. These goals are to be achieved through a partnership with the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA). During the three-year project phase, measures will be implemented to improve VOAA's member-focused services and foster an enabling environment for organic farming in Vietnam.

VOAA will receive support to strengthen its organizational structure, implement information campaigns about its range of services, strengthen its physical presence in southern Vietnam and to participate in policy advocacy at all levels. Following outcomes are expected:

• VOAA can diversify its activities and maintain a sustainable operational structure.
• Its members in the three regions across Vietnam are content with VOAA's services.
• There is a supportive environment for organic farming in Vietnam with an enabling political framework and reliable data for relevant core topics.

Duration: 2023 - 2026 (3 years)

Projects

The Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA) was founded in 2011 with the aim of bringing together the various players in organic agriculture under one umbrella. The Hanoi-based association has over 2,000 members, including farmers, research institutes, scientists, businesses, associations and cooperatives. VOAA is a major driver of organic agriculture in Vietnam and a strategic partner of Naturland in Southeast Asia.

Header image: Pixabay/ Qui Nguyen Khac

Improvement of existing agroforestry activities among coffee farmers in Burundi and expansion of these activities to other target groups, as well as the publication of scientific studies on agroforestry

Burundi is one of the smallest countries in Africa in terms of area, but is very densely populated. In 2020, the country had the world's lowest GDP per capita with an annual income of around 250 EUR. The country also faces ecological challenges: Between 1990 and 2000 Burundi's forest area declined by 9% - the largest decline in the world. This development is devastating due to the hilly landscape and farmers are losing valuable soil every day due to landslides. The loss of so much forest area also makes Burundi very vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change. Harvests are regularly lower than in previous years. Young people show little interest in staying in the rural regions and are migrating to the cities.

The project will improve existing agroforestry systems in coffee cultivation in 18 cooperatives of COCOCA, a union of cooperatives of coffee growers in Burundi. This will be achieved by planting bananas, fruit trees and shade trees that contribute to food security, increase soil fertility, reduce soil erosion and provide construction- as well as firewood for the local population.

In addition to this, the local stakeholders will be informed about good practices and how to increase yields through the maintenance of the agroforestry systems, coffee bushes and the establishment of self-sustaining crops. The farmers will also receive advice on how to combat pests and diseases that can affect crops with environmentally friendly methods. The communication work will be implemented through newly established farmers field schools, demonstration farms and peer-to-peer exchange. Farmers will be encouraged to integrate the best practice measures into their farming systems. And selected demonstration farmers will propose new farming methods and pass them on to other interested farmers.

Duration (project phase 1): 2022 - 2024 (25 months)

Projects

Header image: Naturland/ Anne Hessenland

About 70 % of Rwanda's working population is engaged in agriculture. Coffee is an important export product, but the cultivation of flowers and vegetables, as well as food processing for the local and international market also promise good potential. Many of these products are already grown organically, but most farmers do not have internationally recognized certification because the costs are too high, especially for smallholders. The high population density and -growth rate lead to a shortage of land and thus to a more intensive use of the available farmland. Deforestation and the effects of climate change with weather extremes such as droughts and heavy rains are exacerbating soil depletion and erosion.

The overall goal of the project is to improve Rwanda's economic, social and environmental development by expanding organic agriculture in the country. To achieve this, the project partners are strengthening the umbrella organization "Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement" (ROAM). In order to control soil erosion and restore soil fertility, Naturland and ROAM plan to cooperate in the expansion of organic agroforestry systems.

Four key results are expected from the project:

• ROAM is qualified as a service provider for the training and extension network, which supports farmers in converting their production to organic standards and introducing organic agroforestry systems. For this purpose, ROAM organizes training programs and educates trainers and extension agents (including 35% women).
• In a pilot phase, the Ejo Heza women's group of the KOPAKAMA cooperative is prepared for organic certification. Practices of sustainable agroforestry are implemented by over 400 member farms. In the agroforestry system, export products such as coffee are grown alongside products for home consumption and for the local market. As a result, the farmers are better able to provide for their families.
• The project partners creat favourable conditions for the further development of the local organic market. Seven PGS groups (Participatory Guaranty System) with a total of 300 participating farmers - supported by the project partners - are functional at the end of the project.
• ROAM contributes to a policy environment conducive to the development of organic agriculture in Rwanda. Staff training and a newly developed advocacy strategy enable ROAM to better represent its members' perspectives vis-à-vis policy makers and the public.

Duration: 2022 – 2025 (3 years)

Naturland is implementing this project in partnership with ROAM (Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement), with a particular focus on the women's group Ejo Heza in the KOPAKAMA cooperative (Karongi district, Rwanda).

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Monitoring animal welfare in organic farming

The OeKoTier project aims to develop a transparent and practicable testing concept for animal welfare monitoring in organic farming. The testing and application of animal-related indicators are essential. Existing approaches to animal welfare monitoring by associations, labels, inspection bodies and existing farm data will be taken into account, as well as the requirement for self-monitoring on farms. The challenge of the project is to create, train and implement a standardized and applicable control system, including measures and sanctions.

In addition to the Thünen Institute of Organic Farming (overall coordination, sub-projects cattle and sheep/goat), the Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (sub-projects pig and data management), the University of Kassel Witzenhausen (sub-project poultry), the organic associations Naturland, Biokreis, Bioland and Gäa as well as the organic control bodies ABCert, GfRS and Kontrollgesellschaft are participating in the interdisciplinary project.

Duration: 2022 – 2025 (3 years)

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Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) as part of the Federal Organic Farming Program (BÖL)

© Header image: Kirsten Wosnitza

More awareness of the benefits of organic farming, more trust in organic food: Within the framework of the EU project "BEING ORGANIC in EU", Naturland is committed to these goals together with FederBio, the organic umbrella association in Italy.

For this purpose, various online and offline measures will be designed and implemented over a period of three years. These include trade fair appearances at Biofach in Nuremberg or SANA in Bologna, social media and press activities as well as food trucks, gastro events and workshops.

The following topics are primarily used to raise awareness among consumers, but also among trade partners in Germany and Italy:

• Significance of the EU organic label ("Follow the Leaf")
• Organic farming and natural food production
• Sustainability - why organic helps future-proof our diet ("Thinking of future generations")
• Eat more organic

It is true that the Naturland seal is awarded according to much stricter standards than the EU organic seal! But it is also a fact that the organic seal and its criteria are the basis of all organic management in the EU food sector. Naturland certified products must always bear the EU organic logo.

Duration: 2022-2024 (3 years)

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