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About East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation
Who We Are
- EWS-KT is a non-profit corporate foundation with unique ties to East-West Seed Group.
- Our mission is to improve the production and business skills of smallholder farmers, with the aim of enhancing their livelihoods and increasing the supply of safe-to-eat vegetables, while simultaneously catalyzing the development of innovative agricultural input markets.
What We Do
We leverage a business-minded approach to sustainable development for farmers in less developed areas:
- We offer practical field demonstrations on home and market-driven production.
- We guide farmers to establish demonstration plots to showcase innovative techniques for growing vegetables.
- We provide field-level training and exposure on best practices for profitable and sustainable farming.
- We develop locally adapted extension materials and share information through digital media platforms.
How We Work
- We help develop competitive agricultural-input markets and position vegetable production as an attractive and viable livelihood for local communities.
- We build partnerships with other organizations that share our core values to promote a sustainable and profitable vegetable production system for low-income and rural communities.
Our Resources
We have high-quality training materials, on-the-ground teams, and a unique data system. All of our extension materials are available on the EWS-KT digital platform GrowHow, which offers a variety of learning materials, including crop guides available in more than 25 languages.
Invisible Roots
Watch EWS-KT staff share their unique stories of affecting the lives of people across the world.
Our Technical Expertise
- Vast expertise in vegetable farming techniques
- In-depth knowledge of local needs and tools to ensure farmer success
- Digital expertise and a data-driven approach
- Extensive skills in team management and farmer return on investment
Our Partners
We co-invest with organizations that share our social impact vision and market-based approaches.
Board of Trustees and Advisors
Rutger joined EWS-KT in 2017 as Board Chair. Rutger is also a member of East-West Seed Group’s Supervisory Board and a member of the Netherlands-African Business Council.
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Rutger Groot
Board Chair
Joan has 40 years of experience in development cooperation, including with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Joan Boer
Board Member
Brigit has over 20 years of experience in development finance and private-sector development.
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Brigit van Dijk – van de Reijt
Board Member
Joost has served as a member of East-West Seed Group’s Supervisory Board since 2015 and is also the Chairman of East-West Seed Indonesia’s Supervisory Board.
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Joost Pekelharing
Board Member
A senior Wageningen University & Research expert, Flip is a practical field agronomist and specialist in tropical vegetable production, with a background in farmer extension, agribusiness, and sector development.
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Flip van Koesveld
Board Advisor
Our team
East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation has dedicated local field teams in each of the locations where we work. We currently employ more than 250 full-time staff.