Jean-Marie Munyaneza the Horticulture International Marketing Officer at the National Agricultural Export development Board (NAEB) has encouraged farmers to plant macadamia since it has shown potential on international market.
Munyaneza noted that so far a kilo of macadamia costs US$1.3 (est. Rwf 750) which was a fair price at the moment.
“Globally Australia sells more macadamia more than our price here but in order for Rwanda to arrive to its price there are a lot of factors we need to adhere,” Munyaneza said.
Munyaneza informed macadamia farmers to work hard so as to improve their produce from the current 4 tones to at least 30 tons a month.
“Very soon we will do a census to find the exact produce of macadamia in the country, since the statistics will assist us to identify areas which need support,”
Norce Elysee Gatarayiha the Director of Norlega Macadamia Rwanda limited, has been buying macadamia from local farmers and so far he has bought 700 Kilo Grams from Rwamagana farmers.
“Finally we’re selling, in the past we were approached by foreign buyers who proposed lower prices, but Gatarahiya has given us a good offer of Rwf 750 per kilo, others would give us ridiculous prices of Rwf 300 to Rwf 500 per kilo which is unfair compared to the hard work we have used,” Xavier Baributsa remarked.
On his part, Gatarayiha urged farmers to plant more macadamias since the more the produce the better the prices.
He also encouraged them not to sell their nuts to strangers since some had selfish interests, and buying their macadamia on cheaper rates is among their gimmicks.
“There’s a high demand for Rwandan macadamia, and I’m willing to buy from any farmer who has harvested and I’m optimistic we will do even well on the international markets if we harvest and plant more macadamia nuts,” he remarked.
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