WUR and Ethiopian partners launched new projects. The launch of SWR Ethiopia is officially marked today at the launch event held at Hilton Addis Ababa Hotel, Ethiopia. Stichting Wageningen Research Ethiopia (SWR Ethiopia) is an international NGO based in Ethiopia. SWR Ethiopia is affiliated to Wageningen University & Research. Its mission is to leverage transformation in Ethiopian food systems. During the same event, SWR Ethiopia launched four projects: namely (i) Resilient Agriculture for Inclusive and Sustainable Ethiopian Food Systems (RAISE FS), (ii) Ethiopian Netherlands Seed Partnership (ENSP), (iii) Food Futures Eastern Africa (REFOOTURE) and (iv) One Timad Package Validation (OTIPAVA).
The projects frame their interventions aligned with the MoA key flagship programmes. In total, the projects are planning to reach over half a million smallholder farmers, hundreds of commercial farmers and private actors over 10 private seed companies over four years unit June 2025.
SWR Ethiopia will have a research-for-food-systems-transformation (R4FST) approach to co-create evidence of innovations in the areas of practices, policies and institutions that will contribute to the transformation of the food systems with due focus on leverage points in relation to functional seed and agricultural input system, bridging productivity gaps, enhancing value chain performance and improving human nutrition for improved food security while minimizing the impact on the environment and ensuring social inclusion. SWR Ethiopia will serve as a hub for projects that WUR undertakes with all kinds of partners in Ethiopia. In doing so SWR Ethiopia will facilitate innovation co-creation through active engagement of implementing partners namely, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (ARARI, OARI, SARI and TARI), Universities and Private Sector platforms. Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Women and Social Affairs
The launch event had three sessions. During the first part of the launch, key results of projects under the, now completed, BENEFIT partnership (https://benefitethiopia.org) shared and briefly discussed. The second half of the event, focused on the new projects. In the last session distinguished guests of honor, Ato Zena Habtewold a delegate of Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia, and HE Henk Jan Bakker, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Addis Ababa, shared their reflections and the way forward at the end of the event.
ENSP - Ethiopia-Netherlands Seed Partnership 
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