‘Isombe’ has a large market in Diaspora

Our country needs thinkers like Mbatezimana. Those who have lived or visited North America already know that products such as isombe have a large market there especially among the African community.

Thursday, May 04, 2017

Editor,

RE: "Rulindo firm looks to turn Rwanda’s isombe into major export product” (The New Times, May 2).

Our country needs thinkers like Mbatezimana. Those who have lived or visited North America already know that products such as isombe have a large market there especially among the African community.

When I was last visiting, I saw frozen isombe from Cameroon being sold in African shops. There is also a Ugandan who owns a shop in Toronto that sales Ugandan matooke. Some African shops also stock eggplants from Ghana.

We need more thinkers like Mbatezimana if we are to increase our agricultural export. In Canada, I saw cassava from the Philippines and Jamaica but which do taste as good as our local one, gacyacyali.

Someone should think about exporting the latter as it tastes far better than any type of cassava anywhere in world and there is a market for it especially in North America where every major food store sells cassava. As I said, there is no better cassava than gacyacyali type and I have never seen it anywhere else except in Rwanda.

Semugeshi