Agricultural product exporters have urged the government to increase investments and attract investors in adding value to agricultural produce so as to boost exports. The request was made by exporters ahead of Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente's address to Parliament on government’s strategies to promote trade, precisely exports. Robert Rukundo, a founder and Chief Executive officer of Almond Green Farm Limited who is chairman of horticulture exporters, told The New Times that adding value to agricultural production could increase shelf life and thus boost exports. “We need more agro-processing industries for agricultural produce including, for instance, Chili, avocadoes, and fruits among others that have export potential. This could help especially when fresh produce faces constraints on the international market,” he said. He said there is also a need for enhancing access to finance by lowering interest rates for investors in the agriculture and livestock sector value chain. Rwanda targets to double agriculture sector lending from the current 5.2 per cent of the total share of loans from financial institutions to 10.4 per cent by 2024. “It requires investing in modern farming, and technology in agriculture depending on each soil characteristic as well as agro-processing and this needs access to finance to afford it. This is should go along with scaling up agriculture insurance as extreme weather events continue to affect the agriculture sector. Scaling up the insurance is needed so as to attract finance from banks considering that they fear risks in the agriculture sector where crop insurance is still low,” he said. More than 48,600 hectares had been insured by the beginning of this year across the country with government subsidies and experts say the insurance scheme should be revised. Rukundo said that expanding the market for Rwanda’s products could motivate producers to increase production. “The government should expand markets by opening more routes with airlines to many countries in Asia and Europe where we can export our products,” he said. Address high freight rates Rukundo said that airlines’ freight charges are still high explaining that this can affect exporters in general. “The freight charges are still high. The charges were reduced in the region and they should also be reduced in our country so that exporters be competitive on export market. We are still paying $2 per Kilogramme,” he said. According to Latifah Mugwaneza, who exported over 50 tonnes of avocadoes per week, high airline freight rates are high adding that there is consideration to try using sea routes. Rwanda’s agricultural exports increased by 44 per cent to over $640.9 million (over Rwf663 billion) in 2021-2022, from $444.8 million (over Rwf460 billion) in the previous financial year according to the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). In comparison to the fiscal year 2020/2021, horticulture (vegetables, fruits and flowers) accounted for 6.7 per cent of total agro-export revenues as they generated $42.8 million. Vegetable and fruit export earnings rose by 63 per cent and 87 per cent respectively. Rwanda wants to expand its agricultural export base through commodity diversification as it seeks to generate $1 billion (more than Rwf1 trillion) in annual foreign agricultural revenues by 2024.
