The Dutch government has invested in horticulture programmes in low- and middle-income countries since 2009. The Valuable Vegetables programme, conducted by Netherlands Food Partnership, has collected various insights from initiatives funded through these investments and identified several topics that require further attention. An expert meeting held during this programme also prioritized “finding solutions to enhance the long-term sustainability of horticulture business models and strong entrepreneurship” as a next step for improving practice and policy.
Therefore Netherlands Food Partnership and Holland Greentech have the ambition to take the next step in exploring new coalitions and business solutions in the area of horticultural market access in Uganda and Rwanda. The embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in both countries have seen increasing interest from companies in the horticultural value chain for products and services and investments through Dutch government-funded programmes. The initiative also aligns with the ambition and current efforts of the Netherlands embassy in Uganda to develop a roadmap for horticulture.
On June 28th 2021 a network exchange meeting will take place to validate the shared interest among multiple businesses and stakeholders for further exploration and development of high-potential access-to-market business models.
