Private operators in the horticulture sector are challenged by lack of expertise and the mentality of players despite its potential to shield the economy.The government is banking on export diversification, especially in horticulture to cushion the economy against external shocks such as the Euro-zone crisis.To date, traditional exports such as coffee, tea and minerals, contribute above 70 percent of the national exports and the government has pledged to focus on horticulture to reduce thetraditional dependency.In an interview with Christine Murebwayire, the Vice Chairperson of Rwanda Horticulture Inter-professional Organisation (RIO), she said the sector is still challenged by the mentality of Rwandans who still think agricultural exports are mainly tea and coffee.“Nobody would ever imagine getting rich by selling or exporting vegetables or fruits only coffee and tea were the considered exports, but these have proved to be life changers,” she said.Horticulture produce takes short time to harvest between three to four months and can be harvested three times a year thus improving farmers’ income and contributing to national policy of poverty reduction.However, the sector lacks expertise and the knowhow of increasing production and quality of the produce to the market demand.Established in 2009, RIO targeted to coordinate the sector and its stakeholders to meet the market demand locally and globally.Murebwayire said the association has 8000 members, including individuals, companies and cooperatives. The members include those dealing in fruits, processing essential oils, flowers and vegetables.Members in the sector however, are optimistic that they will benefit from the commitment presented to revamp the sector.According to Murebwayire, the government through the association, has established and trained district agronomists.“Murebwayire is also a business operator dealing in promoting the production of bananas by processing banana wine, juice and banana fibre.She said to-date her company, Cooperative De Production de Vin de Banane (Coproviba) exports 1000 crates to Tanzania from 400 crates of banana wine in 2010.Vianney Kabera, the Managing Director of Freshpack, a processor and exporter of avocado, apple bananas, hot pepper, French beans and egg plants to Europe, exports ten tonnes of the produce per week.“Horticulture is among the sectors that would contribute heavily to economic growth, but its lacking expertise as far as the market is concerned,” he stressed.He said the products to be exported require particular attention depending on the standards and norms of the market which is still lacking.“Most of the products that go to international market have to abide with certain standards like certification by global gap and HACCP, otherwise your produce will never appear in their shelves,” Kabera emphasised.He is hopeful that the awakening from government like attracting more airlines in the country and training of farmers will play a crucial role in boosting the sector’s performance.Donatilla Nibagwire, an exporter of sweet bananas to Belgium says the sector also lack infrastructure like collection centres, warehouses to select and packing area and parking materials are also imported.“The government should facilitate us acquire basic infrastructure for handling and packing fresh produce and also educate farmers to separate what they grow for domestic consumption and for exports,” she said.According to Alex Kanyankole, the Director General of National Agricultural Development Board, the sub sector is till young and with a lot of challenges.“Rwanda as a country has not been able to address all the challenges, we are dealing with the whole value chain challenges, from planting to market and export,” he said in an interview.The government has established collection centres in Musanze, Kamonyi, Ngoma with cold room to be installed next month. The centres are expected to reduce the potential loss as well as the pricing and market gap. Kanyankole acknowledged the challenge of technical skills to meet the global gap export requirements.“We have identified 20 cooperatives with a view to train them on the requirements because it’s the only way to penetrate the market,” he said.Some of the requirements include environmentally free firming activities, skilled personnel who will harvest on time, best packaging, and storage conditions to ensure the buyer gets the best quality.
