On 4th December 2024, officials from KOICA handed over six greenhouses with irrigation, a compost manure house, a water reservoir, tractor, planter, motorized sprayer, boom sprayer, deep freezer, digital weighing scales and a motor vehicle warehouse to Dr. Barbara Zawedde, the Director of Research at NARO, in the presence of Dr. Kassim the DDG-ATP, the Deputy Country Director KOICA, Mr. Oh Sangeun and Dr. Seruwu Godfrey, the project coordinator at MUZARDI This is part of the VegeSeed Project implemented in collaboration with NARO. The project aims at enhancing vegetable seed systems to benefit farmers, communities, and markets across Africa. Key focus of the project is to improve food security through sustainable agricultural practices, breeding designed to increase resilience, yield, and nutritional quality of vegetables such as onions, Nakati, cabbages, and tomatoes.
The project has established a seed multiplication unit at MUZARDI’s Ntawo station where infrastructural developments and equipment were set up to boost the production of high-quality vegetable seeds. The project also seeks to improve food security, reduce poverty and combat malnutrition by providing quality seeds and seedlings of selected vegetables for small holder farmers. The VegeSeed Project also emphasizes sustainable agricultural practices to help reduce environmental degradation, improve soil fertility, and promote biodiversity.
Dr. Seruwu Godfrey, the Project coordinator expressed hope that the integration of improved vegetable seed varieties, require fewer chemical inputs and promote eco-friendly farming practices, will contribute to healthier ecosystems.
Dr. Zawedde, Director MUZARDI, was grateful to KOICA and the VegeSeed project in particular for the infrastructural, equipment and human capacity boost to NARO and to Bulemeezi County.