Vredeseilanden VECO (International) VECO East-Africa VECO West-Africa VECO RD Congo VECO Vietnam VECO Indonesia VECO Andino VECO Mesoamérica VECO Worldwide Vredeseilanden Open menu Discover & Invest Get involved News & Insights About Us Contact You are here Home»News & Insights News Insights Case studies News & Insights Cracking nuts in Thailand: our new Food Smart Cities approach 11/04/2017 On March 27-28, 2017, VECO got to present its ideas on Food Smart Cities at Cracking the Nut Conference, in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference focusses on cracking the tough nuts associated with reinforcing food systems to meet urban demand. WeFarm: technological innovation on the farm 20/03/2017 in News VECO Andino, the National Coffee Board (JNC) and WeFarm join forces to give 600 coffee families access to knowledge through the use of WeFarm technology. The platform allows farmers to discuss the issues they experience over SMS. Being a woman, a farmer, a leader 08/03/2017 in Insights Compared to the start of VECO's coffee programme in Indonesia three years ago, we see that the opinion of women is much more valued and taken into account. Marselina Walu is one of them. She pushes back against the stereotypical images of farming that, in Indonesia, are usually dominated by men. A spreadsheet has no values 06/03/2017 in Insights British and American investment funds are demanding Unilever to increase its value for shareholders. Reading that, a particular cartoon by the New Yorker sprung to the mind of our colleague Jelle Goossens. “Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.” Louise Fresco: the incomplete truth about food production and food security 22/02/2017 in Insights The question about our food future concerns many of today’s food experts, civil actors, policy makers and academics. Louise Fresco is one of them. As a food expert of the University of Wageningen she has been honoured by the University of Leuven for her groundbreaking research on this topic. In return she took us on a journey to our Foodture by sharing her experience, research and dreams. Coffee tree nurseries are now a business in DRC 22/02/2017 in Insights Large buyers show renewed interest for Congolese Arabica. Yet the plantations are old and the production needs to be increased. After working with farmer organisations for the production of new seedlings, VECO changed its paradigm and now co-invests in the businesses of private nursery growers. Innovative breakthrough: TAKTIK and ATN sign 5-year collaboration. 20/02/2017 in Insights VECO Indonesia’s cinnamon farmer organisation partner in Kerinci, TAKTIK, and their long-time buyer PT Agripro Tridaya Nusantara (ATN) have recently made a major breakthrough by establishing a 5-year joint operation. GoodFood@School programme presented at seminar "Broodnodig / Before it's too late" 16/02/2017 in Insights On Thursday 16 February, Vredeseilanden/VECO was invited to reveal the new school programme 'GoodFood@School' during a seminar organised by the Flemisch educational council (Vlor) and the Department of Education and Training. Kawa Kabuya again winner of Taste of Harvest Competition 16/02/2017 in News For the third year in a row, Kawa Kabuya Cooperative has won the annual Taste of Harvest Competition. Cracking the nut 16/02/2017 in Insights On March 27, our colleagues Nataly Pinto and Gert Engelen will present our plans to work on Food Smart Cities in Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia and Belgium. What Indonesia can learn from passion fruit farmers in Tanzania 30/01/2017 in News Indonesia is now officially the world’s 16th largest economy. What does it take to feed the country and to satisfy the new fast-growing consuming class that demands healthy food? How can we learn from Tanzanian passion fruit farmers to build a better food system? Fruits and vegetables are part of important export commodities in Tanzania, yet feeding their cities with healthy food still proves very challenging. Vredeseilanden / VECO Campaign 2017 11/01/2017 in News On 13, 14 & 15 January, as every year, more than 8,000 volunteers will take to the streets of Belgium and sell a small gadget to support Vredeseilanden/VECO. What if ... 14/12/2016 in Insights What can VECO offer to farmer's organisations, financial institutions and food value chain actors? At the occasion of the Building Trust Seminar we captured this in a 3 minute video message. Report of the Brussels Seminar - Day 2 14/12/2016 in Insights During the sessions of day 2 representatives from the finance and agrifood sectors talked about their expectations regarding farmers’ organizations and their contributions to building long-lasting relationships. Report of the Brussels Seminar - Day 1 14/12/2016 in Insights On Thursday and Friday December 8 & 9th, the first Building rust Seminar was organised by VECO. The participating public consisted of 92 capacity builders, representatives of 33 farmer organisations (3 continents), 16 representatives of financial institutions and 31 delegates of food industry and retail. Citizens for the Foodture 13/12/2016 in Insights In the last quarter of 2016, VECO Belgium initiated a cocreation process with retail professionals and consumers. Our common goal? To come up with tools and processes to mainstream sustainable food consumption. Passion Pays 06/12/2016 in Insights Our farmers are growing old. And truth is, they produce about 80% of our food. 90% of the farms worldwide are run by individual farmers or families, but nowadays it´s difficult to spot a youngster in the field. So, how can farming still be attractive for youngsters? VECO on the move: from Belgian NGO to international network organisation 27/10/2016 in Insights Vredeseilanden/VECO’s house is under renovation. It is not however our office building that is being rebuilt, it’s our organisation. From January 1st 2017 our organisational structure will undergo a total makeover and we will become an international network organisation. HABITAT III: inspiring our new Cluster “Food Smart Cities" 27/10/2016 in Insights Between October 14-16, 2016, VECO Belgium, VECO Mesoamerica and VECO Andino met with partner cities and strategic allies in the city of Quito, host of the UN Habitat III conference. As a result, we are proud to introduce you to our new international cluster: Cities for food Transition (C4FT). Innovative approach will improve access to financing and markets 26/10/2016 in Insights The Forum on Financial Strengthening and Access to Financing in Small-Scale Organizations was held in Managua - Nicaragua on September 24th. This event was attended by over a hundred people related to financing, production, processing, marketing, exports and provision of development services. A journey to PGS organic farming: The story from Trac Van 26/10/2016 in Insights Between April 2015 and June 2016, VECO Vietnam and Duy Tien district’s Women’s Union implemented the project « Scaling out PGS among smallholder farmers, consumers and private actors in Vietnam » in Ha Nam province. The project which was generously funded by Both Ends and 11.11.11 aimed to set up a local Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for organic vegetables, and to strengthen the Trac Van Collaborative Group, a recently-formed farmer organisation, in order to better link farmers with the market. Cocoa cadre competition: The key is the key farmer 26/10/2016 in Insights The Cocoa Cadre Competition in Flores Indonesia: Creating the opportunity to consolidate and share knowledge on applied Good Agricultural Practices as well as to shape the commitments of model farmers. International Summit of Cooperatives 2016 - Quebec 26/10/2016 in Insights From 10 until 13 October 2016, the International Summit of Cooperatives took place in Québec Canada. Roos Peirsegaele, senior strategic advisor of VECO participated in this summit. AMEA: Unleashing the potential of smallholder farmers by professionalizing farming 13/10/2016 in News Responding to Global Agribusiness Market Inefficiencies, AMEA wants to unleash the potential of smallholder farmers by professionalising their business. With its Global Standardized Quality System, AMEA aims to build the business management capacity of smallholder farmers in a quantifiable way and link more professional farmers to market opportunities. VECO, as founding partner of AMEA was proud to be present at its U.S. launch at IFC's headquarters in Washington. Organized farmers – Key to inclusion of small-scale producers markets. 15/09/2016 There is a Kiswahili saying that says “Kidole Kimoja Hakivunji Chawa” which translates to “One finger cannot kill a louse”. This is precisely the motivation behind (Muungano wa Vikundi vya Kilimo cha Horticulture (MUVIKIHO) which literally means a Union of Horticultural Producer Groups. The Inclusive Business Scan 15/09/2016 in Insights The Inclusive Business Scan: final report published Improving coffee quality in the Ecuadorian Andes region 15/09/2016 in Insights In Ecuador, one of VECO´s core businesses is the development of the coffee value chain through improving the quality of high specialty coffee, defined as any coffee that scores above 80 points on a 100 point scale, so that farmers would receive a higher price in national and international markets. In support of this coffee programme, VECO collaborates with the municipality's Economic Development Agency of Quito to support coffee associations in the north-east of Quito. This collaboration has resulted in a study on the quality of high specialty coffee in the same area. Brief Insights on SCOPEinsight 15/09/2016 in Insights VECO Indonesia has put in 25 years working with smallholder farmers in the effort to improve the welfare of Indonesian farmers in Indonesia through sustainable agriculture. VECO Indonesia’s farmers organisation partners have received various types of support to ease/facilitate the running of their agri-businesses based on the principles of inclusive business. Although the partners have managed to capture the entrepreneurial ways and spirit, their strengths and weaknesses in managing the organisations need to be regularly reviewed to foster a continuous learning process while planning, developing and refining their businesses. Reflections and positions of VECO on aspects of sustainability 01/09/2016 in Insights Sustainability is well on its way to become the most stuffed buzzword of our timeframe. That's why we find it important to define more clearly what sustainability means to Vredeseilanden/VECO and have a consistent understanding of the concept. The Youth Who Farm 04/08/2016 in News "Let's Become Farmers" was the motto at this talk show that started with a documentary called "Agriyoungsters" made by Joren De Neve, an intern at VECO Indonesia and a student in Social Work from the University of Ghent, Belgium. the movie gave an insight on the life of a young farmer in Boyolali, Kiswoyo, who went to Jakarta after he graduated high school, only to come back to his village a few years later and discover that agriculture is an industry which provides him with not only an income but also a purpose and a future. A Woman, A Farmer, A Leader 04/08/2016 in News Marselina Walu, also known as Mama Lina, pushes back against the stereotypical images of farming that, in Indonesia, are usually dominated by men. Mama Lina is not only a woman who farms, but also a leader, now chairing a coffee cooperative in Bajawa, Ngada District, Flores, in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Cocoa, an inclusive business for the people of Olancho 04/08/2016 in News To talk about the department of Olancho is to talk about cattle, milk and basic grains, which are its main agricultural products. However, cocoa is a new crop that begins to take hold. Cocoa trees were first planted in 2008, and cocoa is now being exported to Switzerland through Chocolats Halba, as shown by the study prepared by VECO Mesoamerica (ww.vecoma.org), FAO and the Learning Alliance. 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