Rwanda is this fiscal year, set to carry out a feasibility study for domestic urea production from Lake Kivu methane gas, as the country attempts to cut costs associated with importing this fertiliser, whose prices have been on the rise.
Urea fertiliser is an organic compound manufactured from ammonia at a fertiliser plant. It is a source of nitrogen, an essential nutrient crucial for crop growth and development.
The move is to be made possible thanks to the allocation of Rwf100 million, under the national budget approved by Parliament on June 29, 2022. The funds will enable a feasibility study for urea fertiliser production in the country.
MP Omar Munyaneza, Chairperson of the Committee on National Budget and Patrimony, said that the development is in line with helping Rwanda reach a self-sufficiency level in fertiliser manufacturing.
"This is a laudable move to value research which is the source of sustainable development in the future,” he said.
Charles Bucagu, the Deputy Director General in charge of Agriculture Development at the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development (RAB), told The New Times that the drastically increasing fertiliser prices occasioned by the Covid-19 impact and the Russia-Ukraine war spill over effect are a challenge.
It is to note that Russia has been a major supplier of fertilisers and natural gas to the global market, and that natural gas is a key ingredient in fertiliser production.
He pointed out that the study was informed by this issue and that its findings will show the cost of producing urea in the country (how much is needed), and whether it is cheaper to do so than importing this crop nutrient.
In July 2021, urea reached the country costing Rwf873 a kilogramme. But, in January 2022, or five months after, the price of imported urea rose to Rwf1, 280 a kilogramme. As the Government subsidises it with Rwf512 or 40 percent, the farmer pays Rwf768 per kilogramme, according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.
"We have an issue of fertiliser prices which went up considerably. Yet, the methane gas in Lake Kivu can be used for fertiliser production …With the increasing fertiliser prices, the strategy to respond to this problem is to make urea domestically,” he said.
"We will consider the cost-benefit analysis, and then decide whether to produce it locally,” he said, indicating that the study will show in details the investment needed to produce it, how much it will be costing at the market, and whether the country will produce enough for local consumption and a surplus for export.
Bucagu indicated that urea is an important fertiliser especially for cereals, as it helps a crop to have a strong stem and good grain growth through nitrogen provision and photosynthesis for energy.
According to data from RAB, Rwanda needs about 84,308 tonnes of fertilisers annually while it spends [Rwf] 43 billion on their imports. They include 23,376 tonnes of urea, 32,371 tonnes of DAP, 20,507 tonnes of NPK, and 8,054 tonnes of fertiliser blends.
Meanwhile, Rwanda has also been exploring the use of Kivu gas for cooking, and it is expected that cooking gas produced from this lake could start being used by the end of this year, according to Gasmeth – a company that is implementing the project that seeks to process methane into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).