RUHENGERI, RWANDA – SC Johnson is partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture to benefit thousands of Rwandan pyrethrum farmers, according to project participants.
The announcement was made June 2 in Ruhengeri at the headquarters of Societe du Pyrethe au Rwanda Co Ltd, a privately-owned Rwandan company which purchases and processes pyrethrum. Pyrethrum, also know as py, is a natural insecticide extracted from the dried flower heads of certain types of Chrysanthemums.
Mr. Celestin Kabahizi, governor of Rwanda’s Western Province, made the announcement during a ceremony at the facility. Some of the attendees included: Dennis Weller, director of USAID/Rwanda; Ted Abrahamson, director of global procurement for SC Johnson; John Zigira, CEO of Horizon enterprises; and Dr. Tim Schilling of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University.
Also in attendance were representatives of Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and officials from the country’s Northern Province, as well as several regional mayors and more than 50 Rwandan pyrethrum farmers.
“SC Johnson wanted to help the pyrethrum plant growers in Rwanda, and last summer they learned about our SPREAD project efforts, supported by USAID,” said Dr. Tim Schilling, director for enterprise development for the Borlaug Institute. “Company representatives wanted to do something to help improve the livelihood of thousands of small-holder, mainly subsistence-level, pyrethrum farmers in northern Rwanda.”
SC Johnson has been purchasing pyrethrum from East Africa for more than 40 years.
The new public-private partnership will be implemented through the Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development project, known as SPREAD, a USAID-funded effort led by the Borlaug Institute.
SC Johnson and USAID will fund the project to meet goals and objectives laid out in the new project agreement. SC Johnson already has provided support to the Borlaug Institute for a preliminary assessment of Rwanda’s py sector prior to project implementation, according to Schilling.
Project efforts are expected to benefit more than 4,000 Rwandan farming families.
“At an average of about eight people per each farm family, this would have a positive effect on more than 30,000 Rwandans who make a living from pyrethrum farming,” Schilling said.
“We’re enthusiastic about the potential of this project to help increase incomes and the quality of life for thousands of Rwanda pyrethrum farmers, while boosting the sustainable supply of pyrethrum in East Africa,” Abrahamson said. “SC Johnson is committed to partnerships of this nature that help drive local economic growth and improve livelihoods, while giving consumers quality products and services they value.”
The new public-private partnership will be focused on improving pyrethrum yields, quality and production through farmer organization, advanced technology and more effective agricultural practices, Schilling said.
“By employing these means, this new partnership should be able to increase many pyrethrum farmer family incomes by as much as 100 percent,” he said.
“Expanding use of public-private partnerships is a top priority for USAID. Our objective is to bring unique skills and expertise of private sector partners to foster sustainable development in countries like Rwanda,” said Dennis Weller, director of USAID/Rwanda. “We are happy to partner with SC Johnson and the Norman Borlaug Institute on this project. USAID is proud to be associated with this innovative effort to improve the livelihoods of Rwandan farmers through this new public-private partnership.”
The new project was developed with the cooperation of the Societe du Pyrethe au Rwanda Co Ltd, known as SOPYRWA, a pyrethrum-processing facility owned by Horizon, a Rwandan private-business conglomerate.
“For the project, we’re going to develop a geographic information system-based production decision support system for SOPYRWA so they can better plan and control pyrethrum plant production and quality,” Schilling said. “We’re hoping to increase production from the 400 tons of dried flowers produced in 2008 to 1,200 tons in 2010, while also increasing their pyrethrum content. This will lead to significantly increased returns for the py farmers.”
Schilling said the Rwandan government has reserved some 14,000 hectares, about 34,500 acres, for pyrethrum production.
“They have leased these lands to small farmers for free on one condition – that the farmers grow pyrethrum plants on at least 40 percent of the land,” he said. “It’s not a bad deal for the farmers.”
He also noted that various parts of the SOPYRWA pyrethrum-processing factory have been upgraded in recent years and that the facility has added modern refining equipment for producing concentrated extract.
“This all puts Rwanda in a great position to make this project a success and for tens of thousands in farming families to benefit from it,” he said.
Schilling said interest by companies like SC Johnson provide unique opportunities for agricultural and agribusiness development in poor and under-developed countries.
“Public-private partnerships like this one are making a huge impact on Rwandan farmers’ livelihoods,” he said. “Neither pure public nor pure private initiatives have had much success improving their income over the past 40 years.”
“The SPREAD project has already helped tens of thousands of Rwandan farmers and others through helping develop, process, package and market their agricultural products, including specialty coffee, cassava and chili peppers,” said Dr. Linda Cleboski, African programs administrator for the Borlaug Institute. “We’re hoping this new partnership with SC Johnson will be equally beneficial to the pyrethrum farmers of Rwanda.”
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EDITORS NOTE:
The SPREAD project: The Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development project, also known as SPREAD, is a USAID-funded project led by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. SPREAD and earlier associated efforts have been largely responsible for the turnaround in Rwanda’s coffee industry and its new-found reputation as a top “country of origin” for specialty coffee. Project efforts also contributed significantly to Rwanda’s selection as the first African country to host the prestigious Cup of Excellence international coffee competition in 2008. SPREAD is also helping Rwandan farmers and agribusinesses with the production, processing, packaging and marketing of products made from cassava, as well as providing business and technical assistance that will benefit more than 2,000 Rwandan small-acreage chili-pepper farmers. For more information, visit http://www.spreadproject.org .
SC Johnson: SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business. Based in the U.S., the company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, personal care and insect control. The 123-year old company, with more than $8 billion in sales, employs approximately 12,000 people globally and sells products in more than 110 countries. It markets such well-known brands as EDGE®, GLADE®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, ECHO®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®,and MR. MUSCLE. For more information, visit http://www.scjohnson.com .
The Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture: The Borlaug Institute, part of the Texas A&M System, was named for Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, father of the Green Revolution and distinguished professor at Texas A&M. Building on Borlaug’s work, the mission of the institute is “to employ agricultural science to feed the world’s hungry, and to support equity, economic growth, quality of life and mutual respect among peoples.” For more information on the Borlaug Institute, visit http://borlaug.tamu.edu .
The U. S. Agency for International Development: USAID provides assistance to poor and developing countries worldwide through technical assistance, training, infrastructure improvement, food aid, small-enterprise loans and other means. The agency works in more than 100 countries, partnering with volunteer organizations, universities, businesses, international organizations, governmental and non-governmental groups, trade associations, faith-based organizations and others. USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 companies and more than 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations. For more information, visit http://www.usaid.gov .