After completing an 11-month agricultural internship in Israel, Antoine Niyigena, a resident of Rukara Sector in Kayonza District, chose a path less travelled—modern farming over a white-collar job. In 2019, he began applying the hands-on skills acquired abroad to the multiplication and cultivation of Hass avocado seedlings, turning agriculture into a business venture. ALSO READ: From simple crop to cash cow: How avocado became profitable More than a decade ago, avocado in Rwanda was mostly grown for household consumption, with little commercial value. But that has changed. According to the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), the Hass and Fuerte varieties are now popular for export, with Hass in high demand in markets like the United Arab Emirates. During the recent 18th National Agricultural Show, held from June 18 to 27 at Mulindi Showground in Kigali, The New Times met Niyigena showcasing his thriving agribusiness. A graduate of the University of Rwanda, Niyigena is among hundreds of young Rwandans who trained in Israel in advanced farming techniques—ranging from greenhouse cultivation and fruit farming to aquaculture and poultry production—under a bilateral programme aimed at boosting Rwanda’s agriculture. ALSO READ: Inside Rwanda’s plan to make avocado a major export crop “I spent a year in Israel learning from farmers and gaining expertise in avocado and banana farming,” he said. “Back home, avocado farming was underperforming mainly due to poor seedling preparation. With the skills I gained, we now aim for 99% of our harvest to be market-ready.” On returning to Rwanda, Niyigena invested his internship savings in his parents’ idle land. He began with a nursery worth Rwf2 million. Today, that nursery is valued at Rwf30–Rwf40 million, producing up to 80,000 seedlings per farming season, up from 2,000 in the beginning. His avocado farm has grown from two to five hectares over six years. “This is our third harvest. Initially, each tree produced 40 fruits. That rose to 120, and now we expect 200 fruits per tree. We planted 400 trees per hectare. Of our 1,600 trees, 1,000 are already bearing fruit,” he said. Eyeing export markets Niyigena is already supplying Hass avocados to two export firms, with the rest sold locally for consumption and avocado oil production. He aims to expand to 40 hectares in the next 10 years. “Hass is a high-value cash crop with growing global demand,” he noted. Jean-Marie Vianney Munyaneza, Export Services Division Manager at NAEB, said: “We are working to scale up avocado exports from 6,000 to 30,000 tonnes annually, targeting markets in China, India, and others.” To meet that goal, the government plans to plant 240,000 avocado seedlings across 800 hectares in the next four years. Although avocado is still a relatively new export crop in Rwanda, its rise has been rapid. In 2023, exports hit $6.3 million, up from just $440,000 in 2013. That year alone, Rwanda exported 3,200 tonnes of avocados at an average of $2 per kilogram. The turning point came around 2008, when Rwandans visiting Kenya saw the potential of exporting avocados. Since then, local seedling production has eliminated the need for costly imports, which once ran as high as $4.50 per seedling. Today, thanks to government and private initiatives, seedlings cost between Rwf800 and Rwf1,500 from local nurseries. Globally, the Hass avocado market was valued at $18.34 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $30.32 billion by 2033, growing at an average annual rate of 5.16%.
