Euphrosine Niyidukunda Mugeni is still in her final year at the University of Rwanda, pursuing Business Administration, but she can already pay her own way. This is thanks to her innovation in organically producing vegetable oil and hair oil from avocados.
The 23-year-old innovator comes from Huye District, where she also has her business. She started the project in 2017, investing Rwf 40,000 (€40) of her own money . She bought a small processing machine which could help her produce larger quantities of oils.
She said that the idea of adding value to avocado fruits came up after realising that avocados in Mbazi were being sold at giveaway prices while others would rot due to lack of customers: “Previously, one avocado could cost Rwf 20 (€0.02) but farmers are now happy since I pay them Rwf 150 (€0.15) per avocado and I also get profit through value addition where I sell edible oil and hair oil.”
The student won a Rwf 400,000 cash prize at the district level from a competition of youth innovators which enabled her to further raise capital to increase her production. In late 2017, she also won another Rwf 3 million through a Youth Connect Awards Competition which she invested in a processing machine.
“I produce about 20 litres of edible oil per week. We worked hard and won another award of Rwf 4.3 million this year with which we have ordered another machine to increase production. One litre of avocado edible oil costs Rwf 10,000 and a bottle of hair oil Rwf 2,000,” she said.
Newtimes.co.rw reported on the innovator recently also getting another award of $5,000 for her role in reducing post-harvest losses.
