President Paul Kagame met with Wood Foundation Chief Executive Garreth Wood and the organization’s Africa representative, David Knoop on Wednesday to discuss a partnership that has helped expand Rwanda’s tea industry and strengthen access to pediatric surgical care.
The meeting reviewed more than a decade of collaboration between Rwanda and the Scotland-based foundation, whose investments have focused on improving tea production, increasing returns for smallholder farmers and supporting specialized healthcare services for children.
Wood Foundation entered Rwanda’s tea sector in 2012 through investments in Mulindi and Shagasha tea factories alongside Gatsby Africa. The initiative was aimed at improving factory operations, enhancing tea quality and increasing the value generated by farmers supplying the factories.
The foundation has also supported the development of tea-growing areas in Nyaruguru District through a partnership involving the Rwandan government and Unilever. The project expanded tea cultivation from about 3,400 hectares to 6,400 hectares, creating employment opportunities and increasing income for rural households.
In a move widely seen as a step toward greater farmer participation in the industry, Wood Foundation transferred its shares in Mulindi Tea Factory to farmer cooperatives in 2021. More than 5,000 tea growers subsequently became shareholders in the factory.
The foundation continues to support tea farmers supplying factories in Kibeho, Rugabano, Shagasha and Mulindi through programs aimed at improving productivity and tea quality.
The discussions also covered the work of Kids Operating Room, an international charity founded by Garreth and Nicola Wood to improve access to safe surgery for children.
The organization works with hospitals to establish and equip pediatric operating theatres, provide specialized medical equipment and train healthcare professionals. Its programs focus on addressing gaps in surgical care that contribute to preventable deaths and disabilities among children, particularly in developing countries.
Kids Operating Room has partnered with healthcare institutions in Rwanda as part of broader efforts to strengthen pediatric surgical services and build local medical capacity.
The meeting underscored the continuing partnership between Rwanda and Wood Foundation in agriculture and healthcare, two sectors that remain central to the country’s development agenda.
