A little known cooperative of farmers in rural Kirehe district have defied odds and are harvesting good money from exporting to France dried organic pineapples.
Tuzamurane cooperative processes 2 tonnes of dried pineapples from 40 tonnes of fresh pineapples every month at their facility in rural Gahara sector.
The cooperative has 133 members cultivating organic pineapple on more than 150 hectares.
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed. This is done either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialised dryers or dehydrators.
Tuzamurane cooperative has been processing pineapples since 2003 and began exporting them in 2005, according to the cooperative management in previous interviews; “Our aim is to export 36 tonnes per year, meaning three tones monthly, by 2020,” the cooperative previously said.
Since 2013, the total European imports of edible nuts and dried fruits have grown annually by 9% in value, reaching € 11.3 billion in 2017. Over the same period, imports have grown annually by 3% in quantity, reaching 2.9 million tonnes and Tuzamurane cooperative is a major contributor to this lot.
According to French online supermarket Amazon.fr, a kilogram of Organic Dried Pineapple costs at least 32,20 € including VAT.
France imports from Rwanda; leguminous vegetables, shelled or unshelled, fresh or chilled. Dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, fresh or dried at 4.9% of total quantities imported from Rwanda.
Rwanda’s horticulture sector has been steadily growing. The country’s fresh products are branded under the “RWANDAFRESH Brand” and processed products are certified for the current world quality industrial standards.
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 tons of horticultural produce were exported from Rwanda during the 2018-2019 fiscal year as compared to 30,097 tons of horticultural produce exported during the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
Growth in horticultural export volumes from Rwanda was at 24%, which transformed to 16% increase in export revenues at US$ 27,174,785 in 2018-2019 compared to US$ 23,439,874 earned from horticultural exports during 2017-2018 financial year.
