The meeting took in the office of the Governor of Rehamna and after the welcome of the governor to all participant, Dr. Choukr-Allah made a power presentation of the IDRC Quinoa project indicating the main objectives and main drivers of choosing the Rehamna zone and the Quinoa value chain. He also, explained the different phase of the project for developing the Business Model of the Quinoa Value Chain and the planning of the workplan as well as the partners involved in the project.
After the short presentation, the governor gave his full support to the project in term of farmer’s organization and local authority support, as it fit within the province strategy for boosting the income of the small farmers in the region and it come on a time the region is looking for alternatives for Cactus that was totally destructed by an insect. He recommended to include all partners related this Quinoa value chain Eco-System in order to have a cluster of all activities.
He also, emphasize the development of an organic Quinoa, in order to open the international market for this crop. He ask to develop a communication strategy to mediatize the project at the national and International level as well as to have a name and a logo to the Project. The governor asked to train 20 farmers labors on the cultural practices of Quinoa in order the familiarize these labors with the best practices to increase Quinoa productivity.
Dr. Ouazzar as well as Dr. Choukr-Allah assured the governor that the project includes all the components of the value chain of the quinoa including Agronomical production, Post harvesting, processing and the marketing of the crop and the project respond to the objectives of IDRC whish focus on social development and improving the small farmer’s revenue. Dr. Ouazzar welcomed the suggestion of the governor for training the 20 Farmers labor in the experiment farm of UM6P.
Dr. Gharouss explained to the governor all the trials undertaken in the experiment farm of UM6P in Ben Guerir related to select the best varieties adapted to the region and the impact of different practices to increase Quinoa productivity including irrigation scheduling, organic amendment, and date of planting.
Director of DPA was very supportive for the project and emphasized that Quinoa valorization and marketing are the main difficulties encountered with the Quinoa value chain. He suggested to develop an integrated project in which DPA and other stakeholders could contribute to the success of up scaling the Quinoa Value chain in Rehamna Province.