{"id":103619,"date":"2025-06-16T13:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T13:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market"},"modified":"2025-06-16T14:00:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T14:00:55","slug":"rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","title":{"rendered":"Rural Farmers&#8217; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for Fresh Produce, a Rwf30 billion facility under construction in the Kigali Special Economic Zone.<\/p>\n<p>Expected to reduce post-harvest losses which are currently estimated at 40%, the market will improve access by introducing services such as cleaning, grading, drying, cold storage, and quality control. These are crucial for preserving produce, especially for farmers in remote areas who lack access to transport and storage infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf our produce delays reaching the market, it rots. Currently, we have no facilities to store it,\u201d said Yvonne Tuyishime, a vegetable farmer from Bushoki Sector, Rulindo District. \u201cThis market is coming at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Annonciata Nyirantibibuka, from Muko Sector in Musanze District, echoed this concern, stressing the need for cold rooms:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur vegetables and fruits barely last two days. We need better storage so we can sell even a week after harvesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Sinzabaheza, a visually impaired farmer from Shingiro Sector, Musanze District, said their cooperative of 500 members\u2014470 of whom are people with disabilities\u2014has significantly increased yields, particularly Irish potatoes.<\/p>\n<p>However without proper storage, they are forced to sell to middlemen at low prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe used to harvest 6 tonnes per hectare, now we get 22 tonnes. We need storage to match that growth,\u201d he said. The cooperative has begun potato seed multiplication and acquired drying facilities for onions and garlic, increasing the value of their produce. Onion prices, for example, rose from Rwf150 to Rwf800 per kilogram.<\/p>\n<p>Local leaders are urging farmers\u2014especially women and youth\u2014to form cooperatives and embrace improved farming inputs to take full advantage of the market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to increase both quality and quantity,\u201d said Clarisse Uwanyirigira, Musanze\u2019s Vice Mayor for Economic Development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFertilisers, better seeds, and access to cold storage are essential,\u201d added Northern Province Governor Maurice Mugabowagahunde.<\/p>\n<p>According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), in Season A of 2025, only 37.3% of farmers used improved seeds\u201435.9% of small-scale farmers and 85.4% of large-scale ones.<\/p>\n<p><b>A game-changer for Rwanda\u2019s fresh produce sector<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the Kigali Wholesale Market will handle up to 180,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually and serve at least 100 wholesalers. The 10.8-hectare facility, funded by the European Union, will provide a clean, modern environment for transactions involving cooperatives, exporters, food processors, restaurants, and hotels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen cold rooms made from volcanic rock that store produce for three weeks. Innovations like these must be scaled across the country,\u201d said one official.<\/p>\n<p>The market is part of a broader EU-supported push, including the Kungahara Food Security Initiative, which aims to support smallholder farmers\u2014particularly women\u2014in scaling up production, improving quality, and accessing stable markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least 65% of smallholder vegetable farmers should be women if we are to cut post-harvest losses,\u201d said Emmanuel Kayitana, Executive Director of FXB Rwanda.<\/p>\n<p>He cited Nyabihu District, where produce like carrots and onions often rots due to market access constraints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFarmers need formal contracts with the market, so their produce can be preserved and redistributed efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The facility will also integrate digital platforms to give farmers real-time market data\u2014helping them make smarter decisions on pricing and timing.<\/p>\n<p>Christophe Ayabagabo of Kilimo Trust said the market\u2019s sustainable practices, including energy-efficient cold rooms and waste management, will boost food security and strengthen the resilience of Rwanda\u2019s agriculture sector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for Fresh Produce, a Rwf30 billion facility under construction in the Kigali Special Economic Zone. Expected to reduce post-harvest losses which are currently estimated at 40%, the market will improve access by introducing services [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":103618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15],"tags":[321,1223,6762,7466,6378,758,7467,6963],"class_list":["post-103619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-agriculture","tag-farmers","tag-fruits","tag-kigali-wholesale-market","tag-post-harvest-losses","tag-rwanda","tag-value-chain","tag-vegetables"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rural Farmers&#039; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rural Farmers&#039; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rural Farmers&#8217; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"agriculture\",\"farmers\",\"fruits\",\"Kigali Wholesale Market\",\"post-harvest losses\",\"Rwanda\",\"value chain.\",\"Vegetables\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\",\"name\":\"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market - Rwanda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rural Farmers&#8217; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\",\"name\":\"Rwanda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market - Rwanda","description":"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market","og_description":"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","og_site_name":"Rwanda","article_published_time":"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Rural Farmers&#8217; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market","datePublished":"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market"},"wordCount":579,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg","keywords":["agriculture","farmers","fruits","Kigali Wholesale Market","post-harvest losses","Rwanda","value chain.","Vegetables"],"articleSection":["all news","Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market","name":"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market - Rwanda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-16T13:54:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-16T14:00:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Farmers in Northern Province are preparing to scale up production and take advantage of the Kigali Wholesale Market for ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750069830.472421.jpg","width":1000,"height":666,"caption":"Rural Farmers' Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rural-farmers-strategies-for-kigali-fresh-produce-market#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rural Farmers&#8217; Strategies for Kigali Fresh Produce Market"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/","name":"Rwanda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}