Esther’s Aid Culinary Students Coming back to the roots to see where food is grown

On Friday, October 28, 2022, in partnership with Griffith Foods^TM Rwanda Esther’s Aid Culinary Students went on a study tour in Rulindo District where they visited various activities related to agriculture and food supply chain.

Speaking to TOPAFRICANEWS shortly after the field visit, Chief Henri, an instructor at Esther’s Aid school said that the purpose of the visit is to take students through all the stages of the food supply chain as they are the ones who prepare them in hotels, restaurants and even at home.

He said “We have got our study tour from Kigali to Rulindo where we toured the farm and our mission was to learn how we can grow crops from the garden, harvest them and make spices up to the plate and the table.”

“We thank God that our tour was successful, and our students were able to learn practical skills from this tour.” He added.

As a student who participated in the study tour, Ms. Mushime Gislaine confirmed that the tour was very constructive and is an eye opener to what they can practice even at home.

She said “We are honoured to participate in this tour. We are the first students to participate in such a tour, thanks to the partnership between Esther’s aid and Griffith Foods^TM “.

“We have been able to see how they do irrigation where they use pipes and the rain gun. I have also seen how they make spices, chilli and the drying stage,…”She said.

“For us the role of this tour is to know the roots of all ingredients that we use in the kitchen. I, personally, took some seed samples, and I am taking them home where I will construct a kitchen garden so that I can follow up from the plantation stage up to the harvest.” Ms. Mushime said.

According to Ramadhan Sindayigaya, Culinary Chef at Griffith Foods-Sub Saharan Africa, through the partnership with Esther’s Aid “We are bringing the students to the roots to see where the products we are using in the kitchen are coming from.”

“We want the students to understand the whole supply chain. From the farm up to the factory and from there they can understand what is happening around the world, understanding how innovations are booming up.” He added.

“And again, this is the new generation, they can learn and come up with new creativity that can change the community.” Chief Ramadhan added.

Griffith Foods is a global product development partner specializing in food ingredients from seasoning and sauces to breadings, coatings, flavors, bakery products, and more.

Esther’s aid is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring hope by providing free life changing skills and educational programs to impoverished youths and exploited women. They are trained to be a part of their community development program, which will ultimately help them become productive adults.