Ghent, Belgium
24 June 2011
On June 24th at 16:30, the President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Mr. Pedro PIRES will visit Jatropha curcas (‘’purgueira’’) R&D station of Agriverde and QUINVITA in Sao Domingos, Cape Verde. He will be received by the Cape Verdean and Dutch private partners in Agriverde, by the senior management of QUINVITA and by the Dutch Ambassador Mr. Gerben DE JONG.
Agriverde is a Cape Verdean-Dutch joint venture that develops in close collaboration with QUINVITA, improved Jatropha curcas cultivars and markets its seeds and seedlings to bio-fuel plantations across the world. The excellent genetic material that is available in the program, in combination with cutting edge plant science research at the station, has already produced ten improved Jatropha cultivars. This makes Sao Domingos one of the world’s most successful Jatropha curcas R&D stations, firmly establishing Cape Verde’s reputation in this domain.
Agriverde was initiated in 2007 by Mr. André SMAAL of Agriom, a Dutch breeding and development company with a track record as a research partner in international bio-fuels projects. In 2008 he teamed up with Mr. Manuel TEIXEIRA of Manuel Teixeira Aviário, from Praia, with a track record in agricultural projects in Cape Verde. The third partner in this international project is QUINVITA, a globally active industrial crop technology company headquartered in Belgium that brings in research and development capabilities, an international marketing and distribution network and an established client basis in Jatropha plantations. Agriverde constitutes a 1 million EURO investment. Half of it was furnished by the private partners, the other half was matched by a Dutch Government grant through the Private Sector Investment (PSI) Programme. Agriverde currently employs nearly 30 persons and has spin off effects to other Cape Verdean businesses such as a commercial laboratory, a labor management company and to the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREE). A factor that has contributed to the success of Agriverde is the cooperation with local and national authorities and local communities.
For the Dutch government, Agriverde is an example of the transformation that is taking place in the bilateral relations with Cape Verde. These are increasingly based on mutual interest and private investments and ever less on public aid. Agriculture, renewable energy, tourism and the maritime sector show the largest potential for Dutch-Cape Verdean partnership.
QUINVITA is a global industrial crop technology company focusing its activities on the professionalization of and the deployment of game change technologies in alternative energy crops like Jatropha curcas.
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