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FAIM: Small Business Loan Helps Bolster Food Security in Rwanda |
Site: Rwanda
Sector: Agriculture
Challenge: In Rwanda, the use of diseased plants and old seedlings has contributed to a serious decline in the country’s production of food staples such as bananas and pineapples.
Solution: With many contacts in the plant industry, Tennessee horticulturist Steven Jones decided to establish a business focused on growing healthy, virus-free plant cultures and providing advice on plant care and improved agronomy practices to local Rwandan farmers. In order to help fund his large startup costs, Jones obtained a $2 million OPIC loan for his small business, Forestry and Agricultural Investment Management (FAIM) in 2010.
Impact: This project has the potential to substantially improve Rwandan farm production. FAIM has 15 staff members and is cultivating healthy plants that show promise of improving food yields for local farmers. Jones’ farm operates demonstration plots, where Rwandan farmers can learn how to boost productivity and crop health. The virus-free banana demonstration plots grown by Jones have the potential to produce ten times more per hectare than similar crops in Rwanda.
Jones hopes that the healthy plants he is growing and the cultivation techniques he is sharing with the community will not only help farmers increase their incomes, but also produce more food locally and potentially help improve nutrition in the community. He also hopes that Rwandan juice and canning companies can look forward to using locally produced pineapple and passion fruit , instead of importing across borders.
This project was profiled in 2012
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