Israeli scientist who helped African farmers fight hunger is now a hostage of Hamas

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Shoshan Haran dreamed of an Africa without hunger. In her 12 years of work on the continent, the Israeli scientist created a seed improvement program that boosted the incomes of a million people on small vegetable farms.

Then came Oct. 7: the day when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, massacring and abducting hundreds, including many in the kibbutz where Dr. Haran lived. They killed her husband and brother-in-law, they blew up her home with explosives, and they abducted eight people in her family, including Dr. Haran herself.

It was a shocking blow to the non-profit organization she founded, Fair Planet, which had recently expanded its work to Tanzania and Rwanda. But her partners are determined to keep its work going.

“Shoshan, if she were here with us, would undoubtedly encourage us not to be deterred from her life’s mission, ensuring access to adequate nutrition for the world’s hungry,” operations manager Alon Haberfeld told the group in a message last week.

“Her resounding message would echo in our hearts: ‘Keep your focus on the bigger picture, keep supporting farmers in Africa.’ ”

Dr. Haberfeld, a seed expert who has worked with Dr. Haran for almost 30 years, first in the private sector and then in Fair Planet, said the group’s work could ultimately benefit hundreds of millions of people across the world by stimulating greater research to improve seed quality and bolster crop yields. It has already produced dramatic results in Ethiopia, where vegetable yields in its project areas have tripled or more.

Like others in the organization, he is still trying to cope with the fallout from Dr. Haran’s abduction. She is one of an estimated 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, while a further 1,400 people in southern Israel were killed in the attack, according to Israeli government data.

“It’s devastating, and I don’t think we understand the magnitude of this devastation,” Dr. Haberfeld told The Globe and Mail. “We lost so many friends. The mind cannot grasp it yet.”

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In the early days after the Hamas attack, Dr. Haran was considered to be missing. But this week, Israeli officials told her friends and family that she and the other family members are being held captive.

Before teaming up at Fair Planet more than a decade ago, Dr. Haran and Dr. Haberfeld had worked for years at Hazera Genetics, an Israeli company in the seed industry.

At the annual meetings of its French corporate owner, Dr. Haberfeld remembers, Dr. Haran would leap to her feet when she saw the map of the company’s global operations, which showed most of Africa as a blank spot. “What about Africa?” she repeatedly asked.

Seed companies had little interest in most of Africa because it lacked any significant commercial market. Most farmers could not afford to buy seeds – they simply took the seeds from the previous year’s crops, which left them stuck in a cycle of low-quality seeds, while giving the companies no incentive to invest in Africa.

By 2010, Dr. Haran was discussing the idea of leaving Hazera and creating a new non-profit organization, which became Fair Planet. Her plan was inspired by the communal and co-operative values of mutual support at her kibbutz, Be’eri, near the Israel-Gaza border.

Her idea was simple: If she could gain funding from donors, she could persuade companies such as Hazera to provide African farmers with new high-quality varieties of seeds, developed specifically for the climate, soil and altitude of their own farming area, which in turn would boost their yields and create a new seed market. Seeds would be tested in local trials so that the best varieties would be chosen, and trainers would help to spread the knowledge widely.

The idea worked. The new seeds have produced yields up to 10 times greater than before. Despite the small size of farm plots in Ethiopia, farmers were able to generate more money from cash crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, onions and potatoes. “The results have been amazing,” Dr. Haberfeld said.

An impact study found that the Fair Planet program had benefited about 150,000 farmers in Ethiopia, each with an average of six or seven family members. Farm incomes doubled or tripled, which led to better nutrition and expanded education, since families were able to afford better diets and school fees for their children.

Since the Oct. 7 mass killings and abductions, Fair Planet’s costs have increased. Israel’s direct air connections to Africa have dwindled, and its staff and volunteers must take more expensive routes through Europe to Africa. Some of its volunteers have been called up for military service. But none of its programs have been suspended.

“We are struggling, but we keep on with the work,” Dr. Haberfeld said.

“The bigger picture is what’s important, and the bigger picture is hunger-free Africa. That was Shoshan’s dream, and that’s what we work for.”