Grain farmers working with the East Africa Exchange (EAX) in Kayonza and Musanze districts will now be able to manage quality of their produce, thanks to the mobile cleaning and drying equipment which was installed at EAX warehouses in the two districts last week.

According to a statement from the exchange, the equipment will support the grain co-operatives in the two locations and neighbouring districts.

This is part of the EAX’s collateral management support, which includes cleaning, drying and grading services to improve produce quality to international standards before it is offered for sale.

"The processing of the grains will address the serious post-harvest challenges that are faced by farmers, particularly higher moisture content, which could result in storage losses, as well as low commodity prices,” the statement indicated on Thursday.

The equipment (of the PRT 250 model) have the capacity to dry five metric tonnes of grains per hour.Farmer co-operatives that are registered members of the exchange have been depositing their maize with EAX-certified warehouses since the beginning of the current harvesting season.

Once harvested, maize, if not stored under the right moisture level of 13.5 per cent or below (according to EAC standards), is more exposed to aflatoxins or other micro-organism infestation. This could cause poisoning when consumed by humans.

Therefore, it is expected that the dryers will contribute to elevating losses emanating from poor storage of maize, when the cereal is exposed to excessive moisture. Since its establishment, the EAX has helped Rwanda grain farmers with services, including professional storage, cleaning, drying, grading, insurance and indemnity, warehouse receipts, warehouse receipts financing, pricing, demand and supply data, trading and trade settlement.

Recently, the EAX partnered with Banque Populaire du Rwanda, Ecobank and Bank of Kigali to extend loans to grain farmers under the warehouse receipt system.

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