Science - December 1, 2005
Wageningen helps ginger farmers
Wageningen UR is contributing to a project to help ginger farmers hit by the tsunami in Aceh to get back on their feet.
A project with four hundred thousand euros from the UN should help the ginger farmers to resume their activities. Huub Stoetzer from the IAC will give technical training on recovering the land and pest and disease control. Sierk Plaat of Applied Plant Research will assist the farmers in organising themselves. In a follow-up project the factory will also be rebuilt.
The project is being led by a local development organisation. Farmer participation in farmer field schools and setting up small businesses will also be part of the training provided. In addition to direct training for farmer representatives, Stoetzer and Plaat will also do training of trainers from a local university. / JT