Last week, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs raised the red flag, noting that the country still spends a lot of money on imports of items that are already being produced in the country.

This comes at a time when the ministry and the private sector have been rallying Rwandans to consume locally-made goods and produce under the Made-in-Rwanda drive, now in its second year.

The spirit of the campaign, however, seems to have been lost on some big hotels and supermarket chains as they have continued to import foodstuff. In fact, central bank figures indicate that importation of consumer goods rose 7.6 per cent in volume, and 3.2 per cent in value in first six months of the year.

According to the National Bank of Rwanda, the rise was mainly driven by imports of food items - meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, spices, cereals, flours and seeds - that went up 9.6 per cent in volume.

Generally, Rwanda’s formal imports grew 3.3 per cent during the reporting period, to 1,171.25 million, from 1,134.10 million in 2015.

If top hotels and supermarkets chain, among others, gave more support to local producers and the country’s ambitions, the story would be different. These entities claim that they import food due to quality issues or long-running deals with foreign suppliers. However, what are they doing to empower the local farmer to meet such standards?

Otherwise, we may need to rethink the policy and compel these entities to buy local. After all, local content is not only about giving jobs to Rwandans but buying what we produce, too.

But the onus is on all stakeholders, including government, buyers, standards watchdog, Private Sector Federation and farmer co-operatives to work toward improving the value chain and hence ensure quality and sustainable supply.

The trade ministry, the implementing agency of the domestic market recapturing strategy, should take keen interest in this area.