Farmers to increase production after securing deal to export Hass and Fuerte avocados

Avocado farmers have committed to increase production after securing a deal from One Acre Fund-TUBURA to aggregate and export Hass and Fuerte varieties of avocado. In 2021, One Acre Fund-TUBURA started undertaking a project to aggregate and export Hass and Fuerte avocados from smallholder farmers. The aim was to help as many farmers who don’t have access to good markets and others who are interested in working with One Acre Fund-TUBURA. One Acre Fund-TUBURA is an agricultural development organization serving more than 750,000 Rwandan farmers. The organization works with government and private partners to provide a comprehensive service model which delivers a complete bundle of services to farmers, including financing, training, local delivery, and market facilitation. Beatrice Mukeshimana, a farmer from Gakenke district, Kamubuga sector, Mbatabata cell said she has two avocado trees-one Hass avocado tree and one Fuerte avocado tree being harvested and two trees that are yet to be harvested. “One Acre Fund-TUBURA has been buying our avocado produce. After securing such a sustainable market, I need to plant more than 20 seedlings,” she told The New Times. She said that before being linked to the market by One Acre Fund-TUBURA, they were selling at throwaway prices. “Middlemen were exploiting us and we were selling the produce in a scattered way. Now we sell the produce in bulk (large quantities at once) and are also able to enroll in a health insurance programme, afford school fees, and save with savings groups we have established,” she said. Mukeshimana said that she harvests between 200 and 300 avocados from each tree every year. Jean Paul Nkezabo, another farmer from Gakenke district also said he has grown two Hass avocado trees. He explained before being linked to the market by One Acre Fund-TUBURA, they were being exploited by middlemen as they were selling at low prices. “Now that there is a promise of a sustainable market, I want to increase production to at least 10 trees,” he said. The farmer also collects Hass avocados from the community to be bought under the support of One Acre Fund-TUBURA. The Global Hass Avocado Market is projected to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3% during the forecast period (2022-2027) according to reports. 100 metric tonnes of avocados to be aggregated Evariste Bagambiki, the Communications Specialist at One Acre Fund-TUBURA told The New Times that this year, One Acre Fund-TUBURA plans to aggregate 100 metric tonnes of avocados. One Acre Fund-TUBURA is supporting farmers in two ways, he said.These include producing and delivering good quality avocado seedlings, and guaranteeing a sustainable market. “At One Acre Fund-TUBURA, we believe that a good harvest starts with high quality seed. We aim to support farmers to adopt commercial agriculture through avocado planting. In addition, currently farmers do not know if a buyer will come and buy or not. With One Acre Fund-TUBURA, they can be sure the market is there and will have a consistent buyer, ” he said. In 2021, One Acre Fund-TUBURA delivered 350k seedlings to farmers throughout the country, which made a total of 500k seedlings from 2019. This year, the organization is targeting to deliver more than 350k seedlings. “The aim is to help as many farmers who don’t have access to good markets and others who are interested in working with One Acre Fund-TUBURA,” he said. In addition, by collecting the avocados from the farmers, One Acre Fund-TUBURA trains farmers on how to feed the family avocado as part of the fight against malnutrition in the family. “The organization doesn’t collect all the avocados from the farmer, it encourages the farmers to consume the non-collected fruits for the wellbeing of their families,” he said. Focus on higher-value crops Government targets to build a market-driven commercial agriculture system, which professionalizes farmers, scales up the use of modern inputs and technologies, increases access to agriculture financing and risk sharing and integrates within global value chains for higher-value products. By integrating the higher-value products within the global value chain, the government of Rwanda aims to diversify away from cereals to higher value crops. Bagambiki said that in line with this, One Acre Fund-TUBURA is running a range of trials on higher-value crops, which will increase the profit of farmers and lead them to prosperity. One of the crops is avocados, especially Hass and Fuerte species, suitable for export. Rwanda has a target to generate $1 billion (Rwf1 trillion) in annual agricultural exports by 2024, which is more than double the current output by the sector and high value crops are targeted to play a big role. According to farmers, new seeds have produced good products. Avocado farmers have committed to increase production after securing a deal from One Acre Fund-TUBURA to aggregate and export Hass and Fuerte verities of avocado. In 2021, One Acre Fund-TUBURA delivered 350k seedlings to farmers throughout the country, which made a total of 500k seedlings from 2019.

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Farmers to increase production after securing deal to export Hass and Fuerte avocados