Agricultural and livestock products remain among Rwanda's strongest foreign exchange contributors. In the 2023/24 fiscal year, the country earned more than $839.2 million (over 1.2 trillion Rwandan Francs) from the export of agricultural produce.
Coffee continues to play a central role in this performance. This year alone, the crop generated $78.71 million, reinforcing Rwanda's reputation for producing high-quality speciality coffee that enjoys strong international demand.
To boost future earnings, NAEB is intensifying efforts to expand and rejuvenate the country's coffee plantations. This year, 2,902,145 seedlings will be planted across 1,043 hectares, while an additional 443 hectares of ageing, low-yield trees, many of which have produced for more than three decades, will be replaced. Last year, farmers planted 1.3 million seedlings as part of the same long-term expansion strategy.
A significant driver of this growth is the Promoting Smallholder Agro-export Competitiveness (PSAC) project, which runs until 2029. Under PSAC, 9 million coffee seedlings are set to be planted on 3,050 hectares. The initiative supports smallholder farmers to increase both the volume and quality of export crops, enabling them to compete more effectively in global markets.
PSAC is currently active in six major tea- and coffee-producing districts: Nyaruguru, Karongi, Nyamasheke, Rutsiro, Nyabihu, and Rulindo.
NAEB Chief Executive Officer Bizimana Claude emphasised the importance of collaboration with farmers to drive export growth.
'Working closely with coffee farmers across the country, we aim to increase exports by replacing old trees and expanding cultivation areas,' he said. 'NAEB is providing new seedlings and fertilisers to ensure higher yields and better quality, helping farmers secure improved prices.'
For many farmers, the impact is already visible. Seth Ndutiye, a veteran coffee grower from the Mubuga sector in Karongi District, has cultivated coffee for 30 years.
'I began planting coffee at 15 and now have 2,000 trees,' he said. 'Thanks to the new seedlings supplied by NAEB, our production has increased significantly.'
Ndutiye added that ageing trees had long been a challenge, with some producing fewer than three kilogrammes per tree for decades. In contrast, the new varieties are already yielding up to 12 kilogrammes per tree, offering hope for higher incomes and a more sustainable future for coffee farming.
Rwanda's renewed push in the coffee sector is expected to sustain its export growth trajectory while strengthening the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder farmers nationwide.
IGIHE
