Dr. Tomer Malchi (shown right) was born in Israel, grew up in the United States, and returned to Israel three years after completing his BA at Cornell. He had developed an avid interest in water, which led him to pursue a second bachelor’s degree, this time in Soil and Water Sciences, working with Prof. Moshe Shenker and Prof. Benny Chefetz at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment. In his second year, Tomer had a slight turn of heart, and found himself enamored with all things soil, a love that lasted through his doctoral studies – and beyond.
Towards the end of his bachelor’s degree, Tomer became involved in the international organization Engineers Without Borders (EWB). He was on the team that established the national headquarters in Israel, and he founded the Rehovot branch. Using EWB as a platform, Tomer worked to create opportunities for Smith Faculty alumni to gain hands-on experience in Israel and Ethiopia. Projects included working with youth, water purification systems, and establishing a demonstration farm to train Ethiopian farmers on Israeli technologies. “We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Tomer recalls.
Soon the Ethiopian government reached out, asking that they scale up their agricultural activity. Along with co-founders Ben Cohen and Yair Keinan, Tomer departed from EWB and founded CultivAid. Soon they were working across Ethiopia, with partners ranging from the Ethiopian government, local NGOs, the Joint Distribution Committee, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, universities, the private sector, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Today, the scope of CultivAid’s programs is quite impressive. They work in four countries in east Africa. Over 100 Israelis have participated in their internship program, and thousands of Ethiopian agronomists have completed various training programs. In Tanzania alone, a new program with the Don Bosco Technical Institute of Dodoma will train 150 students annually on Israeli agricultural technologies.
CultivAid is truly a multifaceted organization. Through training, demonstration sites, and research, they lead the way, introducing agricultural technologies ranging from drip irrigation, greenhouses, and meteorological stations. Their demonstration plots are lush with myriad vegetables, and their orchards are home to mangoes, avocados, apples, and grapes. They develop nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and help farmers improve the quality and quantity of the produce they bring to market, strengthening the agricultural economy and regional development.
“Our model has proven successful – even without our physical presence, our programs have continued throughout the pandemic. This is proof that providing knowledge and skills is what matters most. We are training people to make a difference. We’re not like other NGOs that come and go. We’re here to stay.”