Horizon, an agro-based company has turned away from processing coffee owing to low prices on the international market, an official revealed. The company’s Operations Manager, Jerome Mureramanzi said that the price of coffee has forced the company to stop any processing this year. “We have been forced to sell at $2.25 (Rwf1,276) per kg rather than $3.35 (Rwf1,900),” Mureramanzi said. This means that the company that runs 10 coffee washing stations countrywide has made a 33 percent loss after exporting 11 containers weighing about 198 tonnes. “The consignment was exported two weeks after several months of hoarding,”he said. Mureramanzi added that Horizon had not bought any cherries from farmers since the prices dropped last year. “Farmers were not willing to abide by the situation on the international market. They are not even aware of what is going on,” Mureramanzi said. However this was predicted by Fortis Investment Research in March during the East African Fine Coffees Conference (EAFCA) that coffee prices may continue dropping beyond 23 percent as of September last year. The company that presented some of the finest coffees in the Cup of Excellence (CoE) Competition, is now planning to concentrate on other agricultural products. Some of the products it will concentrate on include mulberry trees used in production of silk after cocoon extraction. Horizon Nyamyumba that represented farmers won the tenth place and ranked also thirteen in the competition. This means that coffee farmers who solely depend on the cash crop are likely to face tough times if the situation does not get any better. However, Mureramanzi speculated that some farmers are also considering other agricultural opportunities. Coffee is one of the major leading foreign exchange earners after tourism in Rwanda. The National Coffee Board (Ocir café) projects $60 million revenues this year, up from $46 million last year. Ends
