Rwanda generated $113.9 million from agriculture exports in the second quarter of the 2020/21 fiscal year compared to $120.6 million in the same period last year.

The figures, which were announced by the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), Thursday, January 28, reflect a 5.5 per cent fall.

Export revenues from traditional commodities (coffee, tea and pyrethrum) reduced by 1.2 per cent from $47.3 million in 2019/2020 to $46.7 million in 2020/21.

The data reflects production, export volumes and generated revenues from agricultural commodities in the months of October, November and December 2020.

Revenues from non-traditional commodities such as horticulture, cereals, flour, dairy and poultry products reduced by 8.3 per cent from $73.2 million to $67.2 million in the period under review.

Tea exports drop, lower prices to blame

The report indicates that tea export volumes increased by 4.43 per cent to 7,140 tonnes from 6,838 tonnes registered in the same quarter of 2019/2020.

Export revenues from tea sales reduced by 8 per cent, from $20.5 million in 2019/2020’s second quarter to $18.8 million in the same period of 2020/2021.

The decrease in earnings is a result of price fluctuation at the international market whereby the average price reduced from $3.00 to $2.64.

Coffee revenues up thanks to good prices

Coffee production slightly rose by one per cent from 6,754 tonnes to 7,034 tonnes due to good agronomical practices applied in farms.

However, export volumes went down by 14 per cent from 7,865 tonnes to 6,763 tonnes mainly because of the reduced market as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, hence leading to large quantities of output that were not exported.

Thanks to the good price at the international market, revenues from Rwandan coffee exports increased by 3 per cent to $26.1 million up from $25.3 million.

Covid-19 ‘a key challenge’

Challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic which hit businesses worldwide also affected exports in the agriculture sector, NAEB said.

An example is the reduction of coffee export volumes which is attributed to the shortage of business deals between exporters and buyers as a result of lockdowns imposed by countries to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The same constraints were felt by horticulture businesses, especially in fruit and vegetable exports due to restrictions to the movements of passenger and cargo flights.

NAEB’s management said it is confident that efforts in place to mitigate challenges being faced by the sector will be fruitful.

"We will continue to enhance the quality of Rwandan agri-export commodities to meet standards being sought at the market. Regarding Covid-19 challenges, the Government has offset some costs through subsidies, mostly in transport,” said Claude Bizimana, the Chief Executive Officer of NAEB.

Meanwhile, overall in the 2019/20 fiscal year, Rwanda’s agricultural exports fetched over $419.1 million (about Rwf406 billion) down from $465.4 million (about Rwf451 billion) recorded in 2018/2019, implying a decrease of 10 per cent, show statistics from NAEB.

The decline in terms of agricultural export revenues in the last financial year can be explained by the reduction of informal cross border trade due to Covid-19 impact including the lockdown measures it induced, NAEB explained in its June report that contains statistical data comparing the performance in 2019/2020 and that in 2018/2019.

Nevertheless, NAEB expressed optimism that the existing strong partnership between the Government and all stakeholders is a signal that the agricultural export growth is achievable, an opportunity for new ventures.

For instance, in this second quarter under review, pyrethrum produce attracted new markets of South Korea while for flowers and fruits, a number of great initiatives to expand their production and export volumes took place, new markets were penetrated.