Greenhouses Grow Pesticide-Free Crops for Rwandans

Last month, Bpeace Executive Member Fran Pastore met-up with Sarah in Rwanda and reports: “Sarah is impacting her community in a big way and she has identified an innovative strategy to achieve these goals. She provides tomato and corn seeds and land on which to grow them to impoverished women in her community. Once the crops are harvested, she will purchase them from the women and sell them to the existing accounts as she simultaneously develops additional sales/distribution channels. Sara is creating jobs and opportunities by providing a much needed skill and resources that these women would otherwise not have had.”

Recently, two of Sarah’s three greenhouses were hit with a virus, decreasing production capacity to 50%. Sarah immediately responded by diversifying her crops to include spinach. She then partnered with local farmers to purchase their tomatoes at a reasonable price so she can continue to supply her customers. Sarah believes production capacity will soon return to normal and, despite this setback, still plans to launch new greenhouses in the next two years.