The Pumpkin Project: Bringing World Food Prize Laureate Simon Groot’s Vision to Life

The Pumpkin Project report has just been released! Read it now.

When East-West Seed founder Simon N. Groot won the World Food Prize in 2019, he directed the majority of the award funds to EWS-KT to catalyze the development of a pumpkin production hub in Uganda—with the ultimate goal of accelerating the growth of the pumpkin sector in Africa. Pumpkin is relatively easy to grow, and it has excellent nutritional value and a long shelf life. Despite this, it has generally not been viewed as a commercial crop by smallholder farmers in East Africa.

Groot was awarded the World Food Prize for his “transformative role in empowering millions of smallholder farmers in more than 60 countries to earn greater incomes through enhanced vegetable production, benefiting hundreds of millions of consumers with greater access to nutritious vegetables for healthy diets.”

The Pumpkin Project built on these achievements, using expanded pumpkin production to increase farmers’ income potential and broaden consumers’ options for healthy meals. Making nutrient-rich pumpkins more available to consumers also aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger and malnutrition.

The Pumpkin Project began in July 2020. By its close in January 2024, over 14,000 smallholder farmers in Uganda had learned how to grow pumpkins for the market. With a 67% increase in pumpkin production in the project areas, the Pumpkin Project has also strengthened the pumpkin value chain. The project’s interventions have led to greater demand for high-quality seeds and other agricultural inputs and have established a reliable supply of pumpkin for processors and food manufacturers.

In addition, dedicated efforts to connect farmers to local, regional, and export markets—along with rising consumer interest in pumpkin as a delicious source of nutrition—have driven market expansion, with traders coming from as far away as Kenya to buy fresh pumpkins from Pumpkin Project farmers.

The ripple effects of this seminal project continue to grow. Still, much untapped potential for pumpkins in Africa remains. In line with Groot’s vision, the Pumpkin Project is just the start of our efforts to expand the pumpkin sector in Uganda and beyond.

Find out more about the Pumpkin Project here.