Analysts blame the poor showing on restricted access to both local and international markets
Even as the agricultural sector remained operational during the pandemic, figures from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning shows that all was not well as its contribution to the GDP dropped from five per cent in 2019 to one per cent in the 2020.
While the food crops growth fell from four percent in 2019 to zero percent in 2020, the export crops recorded a nine percentage point drop in 2020, from five per cent in 2019.
Analysts blame the poor showing on restricted access to both local and international markets brought about by anti-Covid-19 measures such as curfews and lockdowns.
“The Congolese were our major buyers but now we are struggling. We can’t get an order of around 300 chickens now but there was a flow of regular demand from local hotels and Congo before the pandemic,” said Catherine Namugisha, a chicken farmer from Musanze District.
The National Institute of Statistics’ figures indicate that Rwanda’s meat exports fell to 4,379,461 kilogrammes in 2019/2020 from 6,876,252 kilogrammes exported in the previous year, with the prices fall as well to Rwf2,497 per kilo from Rwf3,485 per kilo in 2018/2019.
According to the statistician, despite the cash crops and only red pepper, fresh beans, tamarillo, mangoes and avocados, whose export volumes slightly increased in the last year, the rest of the crops have recorded a decrease in their exports and revenues to the country.
Players in the agriculture value chain indicate t The Ministry of finance’s 2021/2022-2023/2024 budget framework paper indicates that driven by the low performance of agriculture in season A and by food prices falling, the inflation rates increased during the first nine months of the year.