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Greenhouse Ventures (GHV) Cameroon in process of establishing strong presence in order to make sustainable farming techniques and innovative solutions in Rwanda through its experts.
Greenhouse Ventures is known for its commitment to environmentally conscious agriculture with an expertise in sustainable practices, such as greenhouse farming, organic crop cultivation, and efficient water management. These techniques have proven successful in Cameroon, since 2013, and are expected to bring about a transformative impact on Rwanda’s agricultural landscape.
Through this expansion, Greenhouse Ventures Cameroon seeks to foster a greener approach to agriculture, while also bringing about positive social and economic impacts in Rwanda’s farming communities.
Roland Fomundam, the CEO & Founder, said that the introduction of their greenhouses will be a gamechanger in Rwanda’s agriculture sector based on how they promote climate-smart agriculture and their production capacity on a small scale of land with the aim to tackle food insecurity.
He said “We visited Rwanda and realized that Rwanda actually imports a lot of food. We also realized that there is also a big problem of youth unemployment in Rwanda. So, our idea was like, well, if we are able to introduce our greenhouses here in Rwanda, engage the population in the production of these food crops, then Rwanda can shift from being a net importer of food to becoming a net exporter of food.”
Among other outcomes expected from the investment include the establishment of a Greenhouse academy in Rwanda with a target to train many youths to becoming greenhouse management experts.
In Cameroon, Greenhouse Ventures has managed to train more than 500 youths which are currently being paid for building and managing same houses across Cameroon and in the neighbouring countries.
For the CEO, he believes that same scheme of knowledge transfer will bolster Rwanda’s youth capacity towards eco-friendly farming practices while fostering sustainable agriculture in the country.
“That is actually one of the first things we want to do, to establish a training school for green and sustainable agriculture, because our sustainability starts from there. In the next year we would be building about 200 greenhouses. We don’t expect to bring Cameroonians to come and manage these greenhouses.
He continued “Our goal is to put greenhouses in the hands of Rwandans, the same way I see bikes, motorbikes, in the hands of Rwandans. We want to be able to make them understand that greenhouses are a necessity.
Greenhouse technology is not new in Rwanda’s agriculture sector as farmers practice it in their farming activities. However, Roland divulged that “Over 99.9% of the Greenhouses, used in Africa, are imported greenhouses and they import them under the canopy of tropical greenhouses. But from North, South, East, West, Central Africa, the climates are different, which means that we need to create greenhouses that are adapted to every ecological zone in the country. And that is the innovation that we bring.”
Apart from greenhouses construction, GHV is planning to apply the same approach, as they did in Cameroon, to create a market for greenhouse grown produce in order to assist farmers in the post-harvest journey.
After Cameroon and Rwanda, Greenhouse Ventures target to expand to other three African countries namely Ghana, Congo and Guinea before the end of 2023.
