Rwanda exported more than 9,317,000 kilogrammes (9,317 tonnes) of processed tea worth over $27.6 million (about Rwf25 billion) between January and March 2020, according to latest statistics.
The statistics were released by the National Agriculture Export Development Board (NAEB) showed on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.
That performance represents an increase in volumes and revenues of 15 percent and 27 percent respectively in comparison to the same period of the previous financial years, NAEB said.
The third quarter of 2019/2020 runs from January to March of 2020.
Speaking to The New Times, Pie Ntwari, the communication officer at NAEB said that expansion of tea plantations, improvement in prices at the international market among the factors that drove up Rwanda’s tea exports.
Meanwhile, he said that tea export business was not adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic under the period under review, pointing out that food value chain is still operational.
"Tea cultivation area expanded, while tea processing factories increased production,” adding that the average price of made tea – processed tea – increased by 6.6 percent from $2.7 in 2019 to $2.88 a kilogramme in 2020 which resulted in the rise in revenue.
Tea is one of Rwanda’s top foreign exchange earners and is exported to more than 48 countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, according to NAEB.
Meanwhile, Rwandan tea export revenues from July to November 2019, which is a five-month period, increased by 8 percent to over Rwf33.2 billion ($36 million) from Rwf30.8 billion (over $33.5 million) recorded in the same period of the previous year, NAEB announced.
In that period, NAEB said, Rwanda's total tea export volume rose by 4 percent from 12,180 tonnes in 2018 to 12,617 tonnes in 2019.
Rwanda targets to generate $102 million (about Rwf93 billion) from tea exports in the 2019/2020 financial year, up from $83 million it earned last fiscal year, according to NAEB.
To achieve that, NAEB says the country expects to export 34,000 tonnes of processed tea compared to 30,000 tonnes it exported last year.