{"id":23102,"date":"2022-07-29T15:06:22","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T15:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects"},"modified":"2022-07-29T15:15:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T15:15:04","slug":"high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects","title":{"rendered":"High freight rates cast a shadow over horticulture export prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>When Robert Rukundo got a deal to export horticulture produce to France last month, he was expecting business growth and an increase in revenues. But, high airfreight costs are making this development impossible.<\/p>\n

Rukundo is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Almond Green Farm Ltd, a local horticulture export company.<\/p>\n

He told The New Times that the Ethiopian Airlines has increased air shipment fee [from Kigali to France] to $2.67 a kilogramme from the previous $2.2 to $2.5 a kilogramme depending on the volumes.<\/p>\n

A number of horticulture exporters told The New Times that RwandAir informed them it will increase the airfreight fee on a kilogramme of fresh produce from the current $1.8 to $2, effective August 1 this year.<\/p>\n

Currently, RwandAir does not fly to France, but the national carrier announced plans to start flights to Paris by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Yet, they expressed concern that even the current cargo flight charges were high.<\/p>\n

Rukundo said that though the sample of his produce was appreciated in France, he can\u2019t negotiate a price that covers transport cost and be able to break even.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had gotten a market for passion fruits and vegetables in France, but their [airlines\u2019] airfreight charge is pushing me out,\u201d he said, indicating that for passion fruits, clients wanted three tonnes, and another three tonnes for chili per week.<\/p>\n

Rukundo is also the Chairman of Horticulture Exporters Association of Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Talking about the underlying factors for the increase in the airfreight tariff, he said RwandAir mentioned rise in fuel prices mainly occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are likely to see that trend [of horticulture exports] from Rwanda going down at the international market,\u201d he said of the possible impact of this situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the airlines are into business also, but if they can maintain the airfreight fee to $1.8 a kilogramme as we move forward [that can be helpful],\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n

Declining value of the Euro and Pound<\/b><\/p>\n

Also, exporters argued that the value of the Euro (\u20ac) and the Pound Sterling (\u00a3) has been weakening against the US Dollar ($) and the Rwandan Franc (Rwf). This makes them incur losses, for instance, when they make exchanges into the local currency in order to buy the produce from the farmers.<\/p>\n

According to data from the National Bank of Rwanda, as of March 31, \u20ac1 was exchanged for Rwf1,142.8 (for selling) compared to Rwf1,053.7 as of July 27, while \u00a31 went for Rwf1,349.2 compared to Rwf1,251.6 as of July 27.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Harelimana, the Chief Finance Officer of Garden Fresh, another horticulture exporting company which mostly deals in French beans, passion fruits, told The New Times that the increase in airfreight fare comes at a difficult time when the Euro value is declining.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not good timing. You cannot increase the airfreight charge from $1.8 a kilogramme to $2 a kilogramme when the Euro value has fallen yet we mainly export to Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at how the Euro [\u2019s value] was in the last six months versus the [US] dollar, and the current situation, you realise that we have lost like 17 cents [0.17 US dollars],\u201d he said, indicating that this is eating away exporters\u2019 profit margin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish the Government can put in any kind of subsidy for six months, which can help us to maintain the current cargo flight fee ($1.8 a kilogramme), and we try to make adjustments related to the fluctuating Euro exchange rate, but not increase it by $0.2,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

The New Times contacted RwandAir for a comment on the issue, but it had not responded by the time of this article\u2019s publication.<\/p>\n

Could value-addition, sea transport offer a solution?<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), airfreight charges increased, not only in Rwanda but globally, due to an increase in jet oil prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs NAEB, we are encouraging and supporting horticulture commodity exporters to find niche markets with reliable contracts that can be able to offset these chocks,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, we are urging exporters to increase efforts in adding value to their products in order to add more money and diversify their income,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NAEB said it is recommending using other modes of transportation, such as shipment by sea, indicating that high-end and value-added products can be transported by air, but others should use water transport because it is less expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassion fruits and avocados will soon begin being exported via water rather than air as a trial phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the fiscal year 2020-2021, Rwanda\u2019s horticulture exports \u2013 vegetables, fruits and flowers \u2013 generated over $28.79 million; slightly higher than the $28.7 million that the agriculture sub-sector brought in in the previous fiscal year, according to data from NAEB.<\/p>\n

NAEB indicates that the country targets $130 million from horticulture exports by 2024.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. When Robert Rukundo got a deal to export horticulture produce to France last month, he was expecting business growth and an increase in revenues. But, high airfreight costs are making this development impossible. Rukundo is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Almond Green Farm Ltd, a local horticulture export company. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15,28],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-23102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh freight rates cast a shadow over horticulture export prospects - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Robert Rukundo got a deal to export horticulture produce to France last month, he was expecting business growth and ...\" \/>\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\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High freight rates cast a shadow over horticulture export prospects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Robert Rukundo got a deal to export horticulture produce to France last month, he was expecting business growth and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-29T15:06:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-29T15:15:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_1-62e3f950e1487.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\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=\"4 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\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"High freight rates cast a shadow over horticulture export prospects\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-29T15:06:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-29T15:15:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\"},\"wordCount\":806,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_1-62e3f950e1487.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/high-freight-rates-cast-a-shadow-over-horticulture-export-prospects\",\"name\":\"High freight rates cast a shadow over horticulture export prospects - 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