Plant-Based Meat Production in Rwanda

“Plant-based protein products that serve as a more affordable alternative to meat can really be a triple win for food systems, delivering benefits for people, planet, and prosperity. With this initiative we aim to boost farmer incomes for nature-positive crops, increase the supply of affordable and safe quality protein to address protein energy malnutrition in a sustainable way, extend the shelf-life and reduce the cooking time for quality protein, and invest in local economic development,” said Sarah Lahaye of One Acre Fund.

Key Global Challenge

Stacy Pyett of Wageningen University & Research reflected on the collaboration. “Increasing access to sustainable nutrition is an essential part of our work on the protein transition. Meeting the needs of the emerging middle class is going to be the key global challenge—and opportunity—in the years to come. We are thrilled to be partnering with One Acre Fund to apply our expertise in developing healthy and delicious plant-based foods to local crops in Rwanda.”

The partnership will bring together one of the world’s leading universities in Food Science and Technology, Wageningen University & Research, with sub-Saharan Africa’s largest network of smallholder farmers, One Acre Fund. With deep expertise in plant-based protein product development, Wageningen University & Research will guide the crop selection, ingredient blend, processing approach, and packaging, while One Acre Fund will lead on farmer financing, input provision, and training, working with its network of over 700,000 farmers in Rwanda, as well as lead on aggregation and bringing the product to market.

Kicking off the product R&D is the first stage of this partnership; both parties are enthusiastically looking for additional partners to support the financial and operational viability of the initiative.