According to a report by the National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB), Rwandan farmers may benefit from a new market for locally grown French beans and pepper. The NAEB said it had received a delegation of three experts from China’s General Administration of Customs bureau: “They are in Rwanda for six days with an aim to assess opportunities and challenges in French-beans and chili farming thus to expand the existing Chinese market.”
Last week, Rwandan officials said the nation targets to increase Agro-export earnings to a total of U$1billion by 2024. It also exports coffee, tea, and some value-added agricultural products such as canned tomatoes, honey, passion fruit, macadamia and mushrooms. Livestock exports also are part of this package mainly to neighbouring DRC.
Commercial pepper cultivation has been ongoing in the country as early as 2010 with dozens of farmers heeding to this green gold. For example a kilogram of pepper sells at Rwf1200-1500 depending on quality.
By 2016, figures from the Rwanda Economic update report indicated that exports had increased from $400million in 2007 to $1.6billion in 2016 because of inputs from non-traditional exports like chili-pepper.
Ambitious projections from the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that the country is targeting to mobilise 46,314 tonnes of horticulture harvest and annual export revenue of $130 million by 2024.
Taarifa.rw reports how last year alone horticulture exports fetched $25 million. Vegetables generated $12.9 million revenues and fruits fetched $7.8 million while flowers $4.1 million.
[ Rwf100 = €0,096 ]
