The $38 million (approx. Rwf39 billion) factory with an annual capacity to blend 100,000 tonnes of fertilisers, which is being constructed in Bugesera District, is expected to be completed in May 2023, Gerardine Mukeshimana, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources has said.
The project is a joint venture under the Rwanda Fertiliser Company (RFC), which involves OCP Group – a Moroccan fertilizer manufacturing firm – and the Government of Rwanda.
OCP Group is one of the leading exporters of phosphate fertilisers in the world, with almost 100 years of experience.
Initially, it was expected that the factory would be operational by the end of 2019. But, in 2021, it was announced that the plant would be completed by the end of this year.
At the site, intertwined iron bars can be seen firmly fixed into the ground. It is expected that the first two walls of concrete will be up by the end of August this year.
"We started the construction and then the [first] contractor did not do a good job, and then we stopped the contract. So, we are happy that it is again restarting. … We hope that by May next year, we will be launching it,” Mukeshimana told The New Times on Saturday, July 16.
By the time of the interview, the minister was visiting the construction site of the facility in Bugesera Industrial Park.
Currently, the factory construction works are being done by Mota-Engil, a Portuguese construction group which is also building the nearby Bugesera International Airport.
"It’s in the context of increasing agricultural productivity … this blending facility will be providing appropriate fertilisers tailored to the soils we have and according to the crop needs,” she observed, indicating that it will ensure efficiency in fertiliser use.
Fertiliser usage amid increasing prices
In the current fiscal year, Rwanda targets to distribute 50,179 tonnes of fertilisers with Government subsidy among farmers, amid the rising costs of this farm input, according to data from the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).
This amount is less than what was applied in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. According to the agriculture ministry’s 2020-2021 annual report, 84,306 tonnes of fertilisers were used by farmers.
Fertiliser prices have gone up – because of the Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war impact which resulted in the supply chain disruptions –, and the Government had to increase the subsidy in order to help lower the costs for the farmers, Mukeshimana said.
According to the factory developers, the fertilisers it will be producing are expected to be cheaper than the available products on the market.
"So, hoping that we can keep the fertiliser use in the same range because whenever the prices are high, we can expect that the purchasing power of the farmers will be reducing. That's why our Government and our friends have been reviewing what we can do to keep it moving,” Mukeshimana observed.
Meanwhile, the average fertiliser use in Rwanda rose from 32 kilogrammes per hectare in 2017 to 60 kilogrammes per hectare in 2021, Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente told parliamentarians in April this year.
Under the fourth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation, Rwanda targets to increase fertiliser usage per hectare to 75 kilogrammes in 2023/2024.