Foundation profile

Our profile

Background

East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer is the corporate non-profit foundation of East-West Seed - a global leader in vegetable seed for smallholder farmers. Simon Groot, who founded East-West Seed in 1982, received the 2019 World Food Prize in recognition of the company’s impact on world nutrition. The company was also recognized by the Global Access to Seed Index for its efforts in improving the productivity of smallholder farmers in under-developed markets.

By positioning vegetable production as an attractive business opportunity, the mission of East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT) is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in less-developed areas of Africa and Asia. In addition to creating opportunities for income generation, our work catalyses the development of competitive agri-input markets and increases the availability of safe-to-eat and affordable vegetables for consumers in poorer areas.

Our Board of Trustees

Chairperson

Rutger Groot (member of EWS supervisory board)

Board members

Joan Boer (former Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand and former ambassador to the OECD) Joost Pekelharing (member of the EWS supervisory board) Bert van der Feltz (CEO of EWS until December 2020 – position currently vacant)

Advisor to the board

Flip Van Koesveld (Wageningen University Plant Research)

With new appointments planned, broader diversity and skills sets are expected over the coming year.

Our Team

As of 31 December 2020, the EWS-KT team is comprised of 143 staff members in eight countries. Of the members, 61% are men and 39% women, while five out of eight country managers are female. All of the country staff are local.