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Development Cooperation

Since 2012, KWS has been continuously involved in various developing countries, to support young researchers particularly in conserving plant genetic resources, plant breeding and establishing seed systems. In this context, KWS implements requirements of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Learn more about our activities in development cooperation in the following countries here:

Projects in Peru

Challenges and goals in Peru

Due to the variable altitudes from zero to over 6,000 meters above sea level, Peru's climate and agricultural production systems are highly diverse. Correspondingly, Peruvian small-scale farmers cultivate a large diversity of quinoa, corn, and other crops. However, climate change and environmental degradation threaten this crop diversity. In addition, young people are relocating to cities and traditional knowledge about cultivation, use and conservation of the crop diversity is at risk. The consequences are chronic food shortages and prevalent malnutrition - particularly in remote regions. To increase the food security of Peruvian small-scale farmers, KWS is focusing on three important goals: Promoting the development of new corn and quinoa varieties, sustainable conservation of genetic diversity, and training young Peruvian scientists.

Field in Peru

Field in Peru

Our cooperation with local Peruvian universities enables us to reach more young people with our capacity development efforts.

- Bettina Haussmann, Manager Strategic Projects

Current activities and results

Bettina Haussmann, Manager Strategic Projects

“By focusing on the intersection of plant genetic resources conservation, plant breeding and small-scale farmers’ access to improved seed, CD Seed is an exemplary model project for bilateral benefit sharing in accordance with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources.”

Projects in Ethiopia

Challenges and goals in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a center of diversity for several crop species, including barley. In the face of climate variability and environmental degradation, it is of utmost importance to conserve this valuable diversity for future generations. Small-scale farmers dominate Ethiopian agriculture and need robust cultivars with high resistance to predominant abiotic and biotic stress factors such as dryness or fungal diseases. However, the availability of such robust cultivars is limited, as is small-scale farmers' access to quality seed.

Ethiopian woman in grain field

Ethiopian woman in grain field

Ethiopian village

Ethiopian village

Our "Capacity Development in Seeds" (CD Seed) project thus had the following goals:

  • Professionalization of the national gene bank at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI).
  • Making plant breeding programs at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) more efficient, with a focus on barley.
  • Improving small-scale farmers' access to high quality seed of barley and wheat.

Turning the project into a self-sustaining initiative

Since 2012, the CD Seed project has been embedded in larger program on Supporting Sustainable Agricultural Productivity (SSAP) in Ethiopia funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture - with co-funding from KWS and the German Federation for Plant Innovation (GFPi). The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) leads the SSAP program and is therefore an important partner alongside the Ethiopian institutions involved.

In 2022, after ten years of funding by CD Seed, the transition of the Ethiopia project into a self-sustaining initiative has been successful. In June 2022, a workshop was held at KWS in Einbeck to show what the initiative will achieve in the long term.

The goal of CD Seed was to strengthen the capacity of Ethiopian research teams in several areas to conserve plant genetic resources, introduce efficient strategies for improving barley, wheat and field bean and ensure smallholder farmers' access to improved seed.

Because of this work at the interface between conservation of plant genetic resources, their efficient use in plant breeding, and smallholder access to improved seed, CD Seed was regarded as a model project early on.

The project has been financed since 2012 by KWS, the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the German Federation for Plant Innovation (GFPi). The funding provided by KWS was a contribution to benefit sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

In addition to financial support, KWS' commitment included on-site consulting activities, support in the form of special equipment, and training in breeding, seed production and team building. The Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Ethiopian Institutes of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Biodiversity (EBI), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and nine seed cooperatives were also involved in implementing the project.

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Your contact persons

Dr. Bettina I. G. Haussmann
Dr. Bettina I. G. Haussmann
Manager Strategic Projects
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