Rwanda to streamline potato trade

Irish potato farmers could soon start earning more from their produce, thanks to a new wholesale market that was inaugurated in Kigali on Tuesday.

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, said the market would address the challenge of exploitation by middlemen in the Irish potato trade and price fluctuations, as well as help streamline the Irish potato business in the country.

Potatoes farmers have always complained that they sell their produce at a lower price compared to the cost of production.

Kanimba also noted that potato trading in Rwanda has been facing two main challenges - a high disparity between the price dealers pay farmers for the produce, and the final price consumers pay for potatoes, especially in Kigali. "This has been a big challenge as we didn't have an organised potato trading system," he said.

He said the second challenge was lack of market, especially for season C, where the price would drop to a figure lower than what is invested into the production process.

Source: allafrica.com