Garlic farmers have reason to rejoice now the construction of a Rwf1.3 billion (€12.6 mln) garlic processing plant and seven dry shelters has begun in Rwanda’s Musanze District. It is set to be completed within the next five months.
The dry shelters are being constructed in different sectors of Musanze District, while the plant is set to be constructed in Gataraga Sector.
The facilities are being built thanks to an idea by local young agripreneurs under IMRAB Group that got help from Business Development Fund (BDF) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). Another garlic dry shelter will be built in Huye District, Southern Province.
Martin Bunane, the firm managing director, said they invested in garlic after realizing that the crop’s subsistence farmers were encountering losses associated with a number of challenges that included market scarcity and limited knowledge on post-harvest management.
“Previously garlic farmers would buy the seeds at Rwf1,000 per a kilo and sell the same quantity at Rwf500; they did not have access to the market which allowed traders to buy their harvest lower than the market price. Moreover, their productivity was low due to poor farming practices and lack of fertilizers,” He said, adding that they are currently working with over 250 garlic farmers in their respective 11 cooperatives.
Source: newtimes.co.rw
