The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources is working with other institutions to examine the cause of collapsing maize drying shelters so as to come up with improved standards and guidelines for the construction of safer facilities, it emerges.

This comes after the collapse of a maize drying shelter was reported, on February 19, in Rukumberi sector, Ngoma District. Reports indicate that 20 people were injured. Luckily, there was no loss of life. The collapsed shelter in Ngoma District belonged to Pascal Rutayisire, a private farmer.

Some of the injured were taken to Kibungo District Hospital and others to Rukumberi Health Centre.

Nathalie Niyonagira, the Mayor of Ngoma District, on Tuesday, February 21, said 16 people were discharged while four others were still being treated.

"There is a team assessing the status of all drying shelters. And, those which will be found not up to proper standards will temporarily be halted so they can be improved,” she said.

The incident in Ngoma District comes barely a month after a maize drying shelter collapsed in Rusororo Sector, Gasabo District, on February 3, causing the death of 10 people.

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Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente condoled with the grief-stricken families whose members passed on in the tragic accident. At the time, according to a communique released by the Office of the Prime Minister, measures to ensure the safety of built structures will be reinforced to avoid similar incidents in the future.

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Telesphore Gashugi, president of Abaharanira Ubukire Gasagara farmers’ cooperative, attributed the collapse of their shelter to the heavy weight of the maize produce it carried and heavy winds.

Eugene Kwibuka, the communication manager at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, on Tuesday told The New Times that none of the affected farmers’ shelters in Ngoma District were constructed by the government.

"None of the drying shelters built under the support of the government – with money set aside by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and distributed to districts – has collapsed. The drying facility that collapsed in Gasabo District was built by farmers on their own and the one which collapsed in Ngoma District was built by an entrepreneur,” he explained.

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Kwibuka said all the facilities built by farmers, or cooperatives, are being assessed before coming up with improved standards and guidelines for proper construction.

"The drying shelters are meant to avoid post-harvest losses and aflatoxin that was triggering rejection [of farmers’ produce] by grain processing industries. After realising the benefits of drying hangers, farmers mobilised their own resources so as to set up drying facilities. Now that they are collapsing, a probe has been launched. It is now necessary to monitor all these facilities,” he said.

Aflatoxin is a toxin (poison) produced by mold on poorly handled harvests that can damage the liver and may lead to liver cancer over long exposure (consumption of affected foods).

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Kwibuka said the Ministry is working together with Rwanda Housing Authority to examine how the drying facilities were constructed and determine the reasons behind their collapse.

"Different government institutions are carrying out the needed assessment. That is how improved standards for proper building and use of the drying shelters by farmers’ cooperatives and entrepreneurs will be developed to improve the quality of agricultural produce and avoid more accidents,” he said.

In March 2022, entrepreneurs that buy, dry and aggregate maize produce decried the shortage of mobile drying machines following the high demand amidst prolonged heavy rains. Their call followed the previous year’s importation of 16 mobile drying machines by the government to improve post-harvest handling in the wake of few drying shelters (hangars) in the country.

ALSO READ: Rwanda deploys mobile dryers to tackle post-harvest losses

Mobile dryers can dry up to 10 tonnes in four and five hours while cob dryers can dry between four and six tonnes in 18 hours.

Earlier, in January 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture embarked on the use of mobile grain dryers in a bid to reduce post-harvest losses and limit exposure of the harvest to aflatoxin.

At the time, Illuminée Kamaraba, the post-harvest Management Division Manager at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), told The New Times that 10 mobile dryer machines were bought at a cost of Rwf475 million.

She said they can process 57 to 84 tons of well-dried and cooled cereals per day. Targeted crops included maize, rice, wheat, soybeans and beans.