ABC7 News
The war in the Middle East was on the minds of those attending a prayer breakfast in San Rafael today.
The prayer was a send-off for Heidi Kuhn, who’s receiving the prestigious World Food Prize next week in Iowa.
Kuhn founded Roots for Peace, a non-profit that removes landmines in former war zones and prepares the land for agriculture.
Kuhn says one of her first projects was in Bethlehem.
Heidi Kuhn Roots for Peace Founder
“We had three faiths working together, and also an Israeli deminer and a Palestinian. And together, they detonated those anti-tank mines, anti-personnel landmines where eight children had died.
Roots for Peace will receive a $250,000 award from the World Food Prize.
About Roots for Peace
ABOUT ROOTS OF PEACE
For the past 25 years, Roots of Peace has worked in war-torn countries around the world to remove the remnants of war, landmines, and unexploded ordinances, and restore the land to rebuild peaceful communities for generations to come.
More than 500 million smallholder farming households across the world live on less than $2 a day. Building a sustainable, regenerative source of income that gives families livelihoods and stability is one of the most pressing issues to be addressed in post-conflict countries. With the help of Roots of Peace, farmers are addressing the key challenges to increased income by applying modern technology and farming techniques that result in increased yields and sustainability.
The Roots of Peace “Mines to Vines” approach has impacted over one million farmers and families. By removing landmines and the remnants of war, Roots of Peace frees land held hostage by unrest. In Afghanistan, it has facilitated the export of fresh fruits, nuts, and spices to markets around the world, contributing to the increase in Afghan agricultural exports from $250 million in 2014 to over $1.4 billion in 2020. Roots of Peace’s award-winning methodology is rooted in building a business model for peace: providing market-driven solutions tailored to rural communities in war-torn lands and serving as a catalyst for industry-wide development across the world.