Israel Africa | Business Guide | 2020

M ASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the design, coordination and implementation of the State of Israel’s development cooperation programs and humanitarian assistance efforts. By placing people at the heart of development, we focus our development activities onhuman capacity building and on the ‘training of trainers’ approach, sharing with other countries Israel’s own development experience and expertise aswell as innovative technologies and tested methodologies. In alignment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and as amember of the family of nations, theState of Israel throughMASHAV, shares the global responsibility of striving to overcome development challenges and contributing to the fight against poverty, while leaving no-one behind. Since its inception in 1958 , thework of MASHAV in Africa has been guided by the basic approach that development work is organic in nature. It is impossible to concentrate efforts in one area, such as food security, without providing proper attention to health care, community building and education. Only through a sustainable and comprehensive development programcanmeasured results be obtained, and thedesired impact be felt by thosewho needassistance the most. Dauntingdevelopment challenges are currently aggravated by the impact of climate instability and constant change, which exacerbate other stresses, often with negative outcome for livelihoods, especially for people living in povertyunder challengingconditions. Theseverychallenges are inextricably entwinedwith the challenges of sustainable development, since risks are unevenly distributed and are generally greater for disadvantaged people and communities in countries at all levels of development. MASHAV believes that only a combination of national policy reforms, blended with grassroots capacity building, can bring about real change. This combination is the backbone of the State of Israel's long standing international development cooperation activityworldwide, as implemented by MASHAV. MASHAV projects worldwide include establishing demonstration infrastructures, which serveas aplatformfor MASHAV in Africa: The Rwanda-Israel Horticulture Center of Excellence The State of Israel through MASHAV, shares the global responsibility of overcoming development challenges and contributing to the fight against poverty by Shuli Kurzon van Gelder Photographs Courtesy of MASHAV Israel Africa > Business Guide > 2020 26 > Agriculture > Mashav Activities in Africa