Ambitious plan to raise agro-exports

The national Agricultural Exports Board (NAEB) has set ambitious targets aimed at increasing the country’s agro-exports by 50 per cent in the next three years, projections released by the board indicate.According to the new targets, tea export earnings are projected to increase from $65m (about Rwf44.2b) to $147m (about Rwf100b) by 2017, while coffee exports are expected to more than double from $73m to $157m.Corneille Ntakirutimana, the director in charge of production at NAEB, said they are targeting to raise $30m from pyrethrum exports, up from $7.4m today and horticulture is expected to rake in $225m.How NAEB plans to achieve this featNtakirutimana revealed that the board will distribute over 43 million and 29 million improved tea and coffee seedlings to farmers countrywide as part of the drive to boost export volumes. He added that NAEB is also encouraging farmers to apply fertilisers, improve crop husbandry and adapt mechanised agriculture systems to enhance crop output. The board will also promote extensive farming, opening virgin agriculture lands and ensuring quality along the value chain. He said these initiatives will help make the country’s agricultural exports more competitive on the international market.Ntakirutimana added that NAEB is also encouraging the private sector to invest in agriculture, especially in non-traditional crops like flowers, to boost the export industry and create thousands of jobs for unemployed Rwandans. The board will also link farmers to credit institutions so they acquire loans to expand their farming projects, he said.Amb. Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, the Rwanda Development Board chief executive officer, said the second phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy outlines programmes in the agriculture sector that aim at modernising agriculture, making it more productive and a major contributor to off-farm jobs through value addition.Agriculture is the main economic activity for the majority of Rwandans, employing 80 per cent of the population. It accounts for a third of Rwanda’s Gross Domestic Product and provides 90 per cent of the national food needs and generates over 70 per cent of the country’s export revenues.

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Ambitious plan to raise agro-exports