One of the direct impacts of Hollanda Fairfoods is to support the personal development of our employees, particularly women and youth. As a result, our Head of Production, Egide Niyibizi, and our Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Doria Igiraneza, joined the Young Experts Program (YEP). YEP’s mission is to build an international network of young experts in the fields of water, agriculture, and energy through Dutch organizations, while also contributing to the SDGs. Egide and Doria spent the last three weeks in the Netherlands with 28 other young experts from around the world, receiving training in areas such as personal development, communication, intercultural leadership, and understanding of local and new contexts.
We asked Doria and Egide what their main takeaway from the three weeks of training: “I couldn’t be more inspired to reach greater heights, both personally and for Hollanda Fairfoods, because HFF recognized my potential and wanted to see me grow.” Meeting fellows with bright minds and ambitions encouraged me to be open to new ideas that could be implemented at Hollanda Fairfoods,” Doria explained. Egide also stated that he learned the most about design thinking because he gained a better understanding of how to place end users at the center of any innovative product or project. The Nexus approach also influenced my thinking about how to integrate the agro-food, water, and energy sectors, which all go hand in hand.
Lastly, Doria and Egide also made time to visit our long-term partner and friend Henk Scheele at Hoeksche Chips to see how their factory operates. This was a fantastic day filled with new information and insights.
