Rwandan farmers may need to begin focusing on the United Arab Emirates market as a major export destination for various agro products.
The UAE Ambassador to Rwanda, Hazza AlQahtani on Thursday held discussions with Gerardine Mukeshimana Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources.
“They discussed about potential areas of cooperation in agriculture and food security, especially how to promote trade of agricultural produce between the two countries,” the Ministry said minutes after the discussions.
Agriculture is an important source of foreign exchange, making up about 63% of the value of Rwanda’s exports.
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Tea and coffee are the major exports while plantains, cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize and beans are the most productive crops.
However, recently Rwanda managed to secure market for avocados. Carrefour, one of the biggest Malls of Emirates in Dubai sources avocados from Rwanda.
Carrefour hypermarket and supermarkets operate in 30 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. With its 320 stores, it serves more than 750,000 customers daily.
With the deepened discussions between Ambassador Hazza AlQahtani and Minister Mukeshimana, the two countries may need to strengthen technology transfer, financial support and storage facilities to enable local farmers adhere to standards and increase supply.
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Agriculture is a priority sector in Rwanda’s Vision 2050 national development strategy. The government aims to replace subsistence farming with fully monetized and technology-intensive commercial agriculture and agro-processing by 2050.
