As Rwanda gears up to increase meat produce for local consumption and exports, there are concerns over meat safety in some slaughterhouses and butcheries across the country due to lack of compliance with required standards, Doing Business understands.

According to Gaspard Simbarikure, the Licensing Officer, at Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA), a recent investigation carried out on 48 slaughterhouses across the country.

The survey established that the safety and quality compliance level was at over 70 per cent for only seven of them, between 50 per cent and 69 per cent for 20 of them and at less than 50 per cent for 21 of total slaughterhouses inspected.

He said that the slaughter activities that are considered domestic activity, predominance of backyard slaughterhouses, hygienic conditions that are precarious, lack of inspection, transportation conditions and retailers conditions that are inadequate have triggered the "safety and quality meat campaign” being carried out from May 17 to June 15, 2022.

The inspection, he said, was also carried out on 159 butcheries.

The findings reveal that the safety and quality compliance level was at over 70 per cent for only 15 butcheries, at between 50 per cent and 69 per cent for 105 butcheries and less than 50 per cent for 39 butcheries.

Over 70 per cent of the facilities were recommended for registration and licensing while continuing working.

Between 50 per cent and 69 per cent of the slaughterhouses and butcheries have been given a grace period of three months to undertake corrections and comply with registration and licensing requirements while continuing working.

Less than 50 per cent of them, he noted, have faced temporary closure with immediate effect so that the operators or owners could undertake necessary corrections.

"The crackdown has triggered a shortage of meat in some parts of the country and once they implement the recommendations, the meat supply will normalise,” Simbarikure said.

The ongoing campaign aims to raise awareness of the meat value chain with all stakeholders to ensure compliance with standards from the farm, butcheries, transportation to the market to the last consumer.

It will emphasize on regulatory requirements with a particular focus on meat traceability and hygiene practices in order to increase competitiveness while unlocking new business opportunities on both domestic and regional markets.

The inspectors said that there is need for strictly conducting joint regular inspections to improve the safety and quality of the meat industry reiterating that measures will follow for those not complying with safety and quality regulations as well as laws in the meat value chain.

Beatrice Uwumukiza, the Director General of Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA) said that assuring high levels of safety and quality of meat requires a certain level of investment in quality infrastructure and equipment.

"I encourage the private sector to start thinking about investing in safety and quality of meat. Safety and quality of meat will also be achieved through training, sensitization and enforcement of standards and regulations governing the meat industry in Rwanda which will result in promoting quality assurance and competitiveness of the meat industry,” she said.

Rising safe and high quality meat demand

As Rwanda strives to foster development and promotion of the tourism sector and conference as well as attracting internationally renowned catering services, Uwumukiza said, safe and high quality meat demand is increasing.

"We have also not to forget the increasing domestic consumption demand,” she noted.

She said that the meat value chain plays a crucial role in both people’s livelihoods and economic development since it has been identified as a key sector within the Made in Rwanda policy.

"It is also an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on strategies and needed infrastructures to increase the quality of meat as a key to enter into new markets while also raising awareness of consumers’ rights to safe and quality meat processed and sold in hygienic conditions,” she added.

Rwanda targets 215,000 tonnes of safe meat production

The country seeks to reach safe and quality meat production of 215,000 tonnes per year in 2024 according to Eugene Niyonzima, Division Manager for Animal Resources Processing & Biotechnology at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).

He said that there is optimism to achieve the target considering that in 2021, the country produced 185,989 tonnes of meat.

This is an increase from 76,830 tonnes in 2012, he said.

He said that as livestock population keeps increasing since 2012, meat production will keep increasing.

Cow population has increased from 1.13 million in 2012 to 1.54 million in 2021.

Goat and sheep population has increased from 3.48 million to 3.61million.

Poultry has increased from 4.6 million to 5.6 million while pig population has increased from 989,000 in 2012 to about 1.5 million in 2021.

He said that increasing skills for farmers, artificial insemination for cows and pigs, subsidized vaccines and medicaments, improved veterinary services, and livestock insurance could increase both livestock production and meat for local and export markets.

Tapping into meat export market

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Rwanda is currently exporting meat to DRC, Congo Brazzaville, and Gabon as well as Asian and European countries such as Qatar, Oman among others.

Cassien Karangwa. The Director of Domestic Trade at this ministry said that while Rwanda keeps increasing exports, there is a need for safe and high quality meat for exporting.

"Rwanda has a big meat export market and therefore we are still exporting many live animals without adding value to them. This is because there is still insufficient capacity to locally process meat at required standards to meet safety and quality for the export market,” he said, adding the campaign aims to streamline the meat business to increase locally produced meat.

Rwanda exports live animals for meat namely cows, goats, sheep, rabbits, poultry among others.

In 2019 and 2020, the country exported 4, 397,095 Kilogrammes and 6,079,903 Kilogrammes of live animals respectively while 8,694,447 Kilogrammes were exported in 2021.

He said that exported meat is in two categories-the exports and re-exports.

Rwanda exports 255,034 Kilogrammes of meat every year while those imported and re-exported are equivalent to 415,253 Kilogrammes.

This implies that Rwanda exports 670,287 Kilogrammes of meat in total every year.

"Modernizing local meat industry by improving standards of slaughterhouses, handling and exporting of produced meat could reduce losses caused by exporting live animals. When we export live animals we lose that added value, we lose skins that can be made into other products among others including losing jobs in the meat value chain,” Karangwa said.

There are concerns over meat safety in some slaughterhouses and butcheries across the country. Photo: Craish Bahizi.