The Rwandan horticulture exports showed a positive growth during 2018-2019 financial year. According to the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) statistical report (2018-2019) on performance of agri-exports sector, a total volume of 37,343 metric tons (MT) of horticultural produce were exported from Rwanda during the 2018-2019 fiscal year as compared to 30,097 MT horticultural produce exported during the 2017-2018 fiscal year.The growth in horticultural export volumes from Rwanda was at 24%, which transformed to 16% increase in export revenues at USD 27,174,785 in 2018-2019 compared to USD 23,439,874 earned from horticultural exports during 2017-2018 financial year.

Horticultural export revenues (USD 27,174,785) earned from vegetables, fruits and flowers during the 2018-2019 fiscal year represented a significant 5% of the total of USD 465,405,334 earnings from agricultural exports. Vegetables contributed a significant (57.5%) of horticulture export products, followed by fruits (30.9 %) and then flowers (11.6 %).

The Head of Emerging Value Chains Division at NAEB, Mr. Jean Marie Vianney Munyaneza attributes the increase of both export volumes and revenues from horticulture value chain to combined efforts from stakeholders to adopt the best agricultural practices. “After a long period of developing horticultural production and market systems, we now confirm that horticulture sector is stepping up.” Munyaneza said.

It was noted that from July 2018 to June 2019, vegetables export volumes of 26,751 MT were sold at USD 15,638,674 compared to 20,635 MT sold at USD 12,389,352 in the previous fiscal year. Therefore, this implies that there was a 26% positive increase in revenues earned from vegetable exports.

The main vegetable products exported from Rwanda were cabbage, fresh tomato and tomato paste, onions, French beans, green pepper and chili pepper. The Democratic Republic of Congo was a leading destination where 72% of vegetables were exported, followed by Uganda (20%), Great Britain (3%) and France (3%) respectively. Other export destinations of Rwandan vegetables included Burundi and China among others.

The report indicates that export volumes of fruits during the fiscal year 2018-2019 increased to 9,959 MT earning a total of USD 8,390,534 from 8,757 MT sold at USD 6,890,738 in the previous fiscal year. This shows a positive increase in revenues by 22%. Fruit exports from Rwanda were dominated by sweet bananas, fruit juice, grape, orange, passion fruit and processed jams. The Democratic Republic of Congo dominated other destinations by importing 55% of Rwandan’s fruits and fruit products. This was followed by the USA (22%), Kenya (6%), United Arab Emirates (4%) and France (4%). Other significant importers of Rwandan fruits were Great Britain (2%), Uganda (2%), Burundi (2%), Belgium (1%) and Denmark (1%).

On the other hand, the export volumes of flowers from Rwanda decreased by 10% during 2018-2019 fiscal year. Only 632.3 MT of flowers were exported from Rwanda in 2018/2019 to fetch USD 3,145,577 as earnings in foreign currency down from 704.7 MT that were exported during 2017/2018 to fetch USD 4,159,785 as export revenues. The decrease in export revenues was attributed to over-supply of flowers on market leading to reduction in prices by 13%. Competition with regional producers like Ethiopia and Kenya who had more convenient and reliable transport logistics to world markets. Roses and cut flowers were dominant in the Rwandan flower exports. The Netherlands was a major importer (98%) of Rwandan flowers through Brussels. Another potential and emerging market was Australia (2%).

NAEB has been supporting horticultural stakeholders to enhance agricultural practices, adopt good handling practices for production of quality produce thus to get high quality certifications such as Global GAP and Fairtrade among other standards sought at international markets.

NAEB will continue to engage more investors in the sector to increase volumes produced and productivity per hectare through application of appropriate technologies and inputs. ‘We encourage Rwandan farmers to shift from subsistence production to business oriented agriculture for exports.  ‘‘Our focus is to develop diversified products like Macadamia and Avocadoes because they have potential to earn agri-export revenues’’, said Mr. Munyaneza. 

All horticultural produce from Rwanda is exported under the National Brand called Rwandafresh. The NAEB’s Business Strategic Plan anticipates that by the year 2024, Rwanda will earn an annual export revenue of USD 130 million from horticulture sector.