HORTICULTURE IS OUR A PRIORITY VALUE CHAIN HON. MINISTER MUKESHIMANA

Rwanda has earmarked horticulture as a priority value chain for the commercialization of agriculture, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana has said.

The minister made the remark while opening a Regional Conference of the Horticulture Innovation Lab that took place on May 9, 2018 at Serena Hotel Kigali. This international network of scientists focused on horticultural innovations.

The Conference brought together top horticultural scientists from Rwanda, the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Germany, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Speaking at the conference, Minister Mukeshimana said: “horticulture is central in our current Government Program to fight against malnutrition and hidden hunger as it’s an important source for vitamins and micro-nutrients. Furthermore, the horticulture sub sector is one of the fastest growing among the contributors to Agriculture GDP.”

The Minister noted that the private sector and youth have been encouraged to invest in horticulture with several private entrepreneurs producing horticulture commodities for export in the regional and internationally.

The research team in Rwanda has also established three centers focused on providing postharvest training and services in Mulindi, Musanze and Rubona to better train agronomists and farmers about innovations in handling horticultural crops after harvest to extend shelf life.

While most fruits and vegetables are consumed fresh there is a growing value addition. NAEB reports there are 258 horticulture processors distributed around the country. 57% of these are owned by cooperatives and 43% by individuals. These processors also comprise numerous SMEs, which need to be transformed to more successful Agribusiness.

Up to one million farmers in Rwanda grow horticulture crops, mainly fruits and vegetables for home consumption and for sale. The majority are smallholders farmers usually grouped into cooperatives. Fruits and vegetable exports have tripled over a 6 year period, moving from 3 Million US Dollars in 2010 to 10 Million USD in 2016.

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