Incoming FAO Representative to Rwanda starts work
Gaulbert Gbehounou has arrived as the new Country Representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rwanda.
Gaulbert, a national of Benin, has more than 30 years of experience in the agriculture world.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Crop Science, and a PhD in Biology (Weed Ecology).
He started his career in 1985 as Weed Scientist and Crop Protectionist in the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin (INRAB), Porto-Novo. In 2009 he was appointed Director of the Cotton Research Centre, INRAB.
He joined FAO in 2010 as Agricultural Officer (Weed Management) in the Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP), FAO headquarters, Rome, being also part of the Sustainable Agriculture Programme Management Team (SP2), before his new position.
Visiting FAO projects
As he started work, Gaulbert visited various FAO implemented projects in Rwanda aimed to reduce poverty and improve the incomes of rural farmers’ households.
Among them; a poultry project supported through African Solidarity Trust Fund aimed to create decent employment opportunities for young people in the agricultural sector and improve nutrition of mostly malnourished children as well as enhancing the incomes of women headed households. Two hundred twenty five young entrepreneurs and female-headed households benefited from the project.
Through Rural Women Economic Empowerment (RWEE) project implemented in Nyaruguru helped to improve food and nutrition security of the people it targeted as well as supporting them to increase their income to secure their livelihoods.
FAO in March this year made interventions in the wake of the invasion of the fall armyworm in Rwanda. New technology that is environmentally friendly and less expensive was introduced. About 1,200 pheromone lures and traps were installed in the maize plantations in different parts of the country lessening the magnitude of the impact of the fall armyworm.
Gaulbert succeeds Attaher Maiga as FAO Representative in Rwanda.
At the time when Rwanda has just launched the six-year agriculture development strategy, the fourth Agriculture Transformation Strategy (PSTA4) designed to significantly increase farm productivity and promote value addition to food, Gbehounou will support the government of Rwanda to achieve the goals set in the plan through agriculture related programmes.
FAO assistance in Rwanda is shaped by the 2013-2018 FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF), which centres on four priority areas: i) Improved Food Security and Human Nutrition among Rwanda population; ii) Agriculture and livestock productivity through sustainable use of natural resource management adapted to climatic changes; iii) Value chain development and private sector investment as basis for boosting commercialized agricultural development; and iv) Institutional collaboration and knowledge sharing in addressing agricultural development, food security and poverty action.