Sisal farming is a rare activity in Rwanda but Tchuma Ndoli Jumayine believes the country can be a regional hub for producing and exporting sisal and its products.

Sisal is a species of Agave native. It yields a stiff fibre used in making various products like rope and spools of twine, but also has many other uses, including making baskets, paper, cloth, wall coverings, carpets, and dartboards.

The 78-year-old Ndoli says Rwanda imports ropes and twines from Tanzania and Kenya mainly because there has been little exploitation of natural sisal plantations in the country.

"I started venturing into cultivating sisal with my son, Hamza Maniraguha, after learning that there were huge sisal plantations in the country that were getting wasted, he says.

"We acquired a peeling machine that we are currently using to get sisal fibres.”

Ndoli was speaking to The New Times from his farm in Nemba Cell, Rweru Sector in Bugesera District.

Narrating his ambitions, Ndoli says he is not hindered by his age and still believes he will achieve his dream of mass production and exportation of sisal.

In his business prospects, he sees something young people can learn from.

"If I can walk into a sisal plantation at the age of 78, cut them, processes them with a plan of making money out of it, then any young person can do much better,” the farmer says.

His project started two years ago from mount Kigali, but production was still poor as he lacked finances and had a small peeling machine that also broke down though he never gave up.

"We later heard that there were sisal plantations in Bugesera and we came to cultivate them, but we faced difficulties with one land owner who later agreed to sell the plantation to us,” Ndoli says.

Sisal plants are formed in a circular arrangement of sword-shaped leaves about 1.5 metres tall. If not cultivated, experts say it would have a seven- to 10-year life-span and typically produces 200–250 commercially usable leaves.

According to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, each leaf contains an average of around 1,000 fibres. The fibres account for only about 4 per cent of the plant by weight.

Sisal is considered a plant of the tropics and subtropics, since production benefits from temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius and sunshine.

Although a sisal plant has a life span of about 10 years, Ndoli says it takes about three to four years for a sisal plantation to be ready for cultivation from the time it was planted.

"People didn’t know the use of these things, most times they would cut them down and throw them to waste,” Ndoli says.

"Sisal cultivation was being done on a very small scale in Rwanda but we want to take it to another level. We now want to buy an advance processing machine that makes ropes and spools of twine but it is expensive and we are trying to find financers. The machine costs $30,000 (about Rwf20 million).”

According to Ndoli, although he is yet to start making sales, his ambition is to ensure his idea benefits as many young Rwandans as possible.

"I employ about 12 young men who assist in cutting down the sisals, but these are people that I am also helping to be self-employed in the future,” he says.

In cultivating sisal, Ndoli takes the lead before his staff.

"Each sisal leaf has many thorns while the plantations are commonly home for venomous snakes but I am the one who clears the path for my employees to start cutting the leaves.

"When I am making pathways, the snakes automatically move away but if someone is not careful, he might be bitten; this is why I clear the pathways myself.”

Fibre extraction

Fibre is extracted by crushing sisal leaves using a decorticator machine, and Ndoli has been able to produce, on average, 250,000 tonnes of fibre each day he is processing, he said.

Today, sisal is commonly used to make the famous Rwandan baskets, which are on high demand both on local and international market.

Available figures indicate that, global production of sisal fibre in 2007 amounted to 240,000 tonnes of which Brazil, the largest producing country, produced 113,000 tonnes.

Within Africa, Tanzania produced about 37,000 tonnes, Kenya 27,600 tonnes, with smaller amounts coming from South Africa and Mozambique.

Sisal occupies the sixth place among fibre plants, representing 2 per cent of the world’s production of plant fibres while its fibres provide 65 per cent of the world’s fibres.

"This is a plant that I believe has not been fully exploited and if we put our efforts together, we can benefit as a country and individuals. I am willing to teach young people how to cultivate it,” Ndoli says.

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