Rwanda flags off first Fuerte avocado variety shipment by sea

The shipment by sea of a refrigerated container holding 22.5 tonnes of Fuerte and Hass avocado varieties from Rwanda to Dubai, was flagged off on January 12 as the country continues its trial to export this much sought after fruit by an alternative means to air freight. The development is a result of a partnership between USAID Rwanda, the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), and horticulture exporters represented by Almond Green Farm. It is Rwanda’s third avocado shipment of its kind, since the first one was made in November 2022. The third freight container combines both Hass and Fuerte varieties of avocado (each accounting for half of the tonnage), different from the previous ones that only had Hass variety. The first one was to Dubai, in November 2022, and the second to Rotterdam in The Netherlands, in November 2023. Fuerte variety has a softer and smoother skin than Hass and is considered more perishable than the latter which has a hard, rough skin. The new container has first to be transported by land to Mombasa port in Kenya, from where the avocados will travel by sea to Dubai. It is expected that the container will arrive in Dubai within 21 days. Previously, all horticultural produce in Rwanda was shipped by airfreight due to the country's landlocked nature and lack of alternative options. However, despite being rapid, airfreight is costlier and has a higher carbon footprint than sea transport, according to sector players. ALSO READ: Rwanda to extend avocado export by sea after successful initial shipment The export services division manager at NAEB, Jean-Marie Vianney Munyaneza, said that the move is expected to improve export service and logistics while ensuring the sustainability of agri-export sector, particularly for avocado value chain. “We have been sending Hass avocados only, but now we are including Fuerte,” he said. “Because we are a landlocked [country], particularly from here to Mombasa or to Dar es Salam, they have been telling us that for Fuerte, probably we are going to have a problem [by adopting sea freight]. But today, we need to prove whether they are right or wrong,” he pointed out, expressing optimism that the operation will be successful. Evan Meyer, Deputy Director, Office of Economic Growth-USAID Rwanda, said “this humble avocado product of Rwandan rich soil and agriculture dedication is set to journey by land and sea and reach new markets for Rwandan farmers and exporters”. “We are helping both farmers and exporters put more money in their pockets. With increased volumes and markets, they will increase the products,” he said. According to Robert Rukundo, the Managing Director of Almond Green Farm, and Chairperson of Horticulture Exporters Association of Rwanda (HEAR), avocados in the container belong to four firms; Almond Green Farm, Bahage Food, Afri Foods, and Expanders. “We did this container to address two issues, one, the issue of capital because us consolidating and coming together as exporters reduces the pressure of an individual doing a whole container alone. So, that helps us to actually push volumes to the market to address barrier of cargo facility that we were having. “The second bit is to test whether Fuerte can actually get to the market without any challenges so that we are able to expand the produce for export,” he said, pointing out that there is huge demand for avocadoes at the international market. Munyaneza said horticulture sector as a whole was growing quickly thanks to concerted effort from the government, the private sector and development partners, indicating that Rwanda earned around $58 million from horticulture exports in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, which is almost 10 times the $6 million it got in 2012. Talking about the avocado subsector, he said it is a new value chain, pointing out that avocado exports generated about $6.3 million – through selling about 3,200 tonnes to international markets– which is more than 13 times the roughly $440,000, around 2013.

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Rwanda flags off first Fuerte avocado variety shipment by sea