Project to improve lives of women

Women’s Action for Development (WAD) has signed an agreement with Israeli-based TMS-Agri to  establish the Hybrid Tomato Seed Project. More than 900 women will be employed through the project and will entail seed production for export to international markets through the German-Dutch company, NUNHEMS.
The pilot phase which is expected to start in early March and will last for five months, will determine the future of the project in Namibia. If it is successful, it will be the first of its kind in Africa.
Dov Hecht, who is an expert in seed production at NUNHEMS, said that when the project reaches full-blown stage, the production in monetary terms could translate to between US$50 000 to 90 000 per hectare per annum.
Hanan Oren, director of TMS, said that the seeds will be provided to the project by the seed breeding company.
“These individuals will be self employed as the project is based on the effort put in by a group per hectare. The workers are however expected to pay back for the infrastructure that will be made available,” Oren said.
WAD and TMS-Agri formed a cooperative under the “Hybrid Tomato Seed Project” which is aimed at improving the social-economic well being of its workers, with a main focus on women development.