Mauritian company exports French beans from Rwanda

Proxifresh, a Mauritian company, is the first firm to engage in exporting Rwanda grown French beans, according to the National Agriculture Exports Development Board (NAEB). Based at Kigali Special Economic Zone, the company has been exporting French beans since 2014. Fresh French beans, also called green beans, are low in calories (31 calories per 100g of raw bean pods) and contain no saturated fat.

Nevertheless, these lean pod vegetables are a very good source of vitamins, minerals, and plant derived micronutrients according to the site. Until October 2016, there was only one company that was exporting French beans, and NAEB’s Horticulture Division Manager, Epimaque Nsanzabaganwa, said Proxifresh increased its export volume.

Nsanzabaganwa said two more companies, Garden Fresh and Nature (Fresh Food), have since embraced the French bean export business. Information from NAEB shows that the beans are currently exported to France and the UK and that in November 2016, a sample of the beans was sent to United Arab Emirates in a bid to explore the Middle East market. Proxifresh Rwanda Ltd operations manager Sylvie Akiki Ruti told the press that the company exports beans three times a week to France with the volume ranging from four tonnes to eight tonnes per week.

She said their overall exports last year were 200 tonnes but added that they should increase to around 300 tonnes this year. Ruti said France imports 7,000 tonnes of French beans from Kenya every year and that it also imports beans from Senegal, Burkina Faso and Morocco.

She said Rwanda-grown French beans have been appreciated for their good taste in France, thanks to the country’s soil that is the most appropriate for the crop. She said NAEB facilitates them in terms of getting export licence and affordable flight fare for their bean exports.

“When we started in 2014, it was really hard to get the supply of beans in Rwanda. Thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and the NAEB, production growth was supported by identifying farmers and land,” Ruti said, adding that there is no more issue of supply gap given their export market.

“The relationships built with our clients in France allowed us to receive their support when we decided to start French beans production [and export] from Rwanda,” she said. The company is currently working with five farming groups that supply it with the beans. The groups are in Nyagatare, Gasabo, Bugesera and Kicukiro Districts. Ruti said that they signed contracts with the farmers so that they ensure sustainable supply of the beans.

To facilitate the farmers meet the target, James Kalimba, one of the French bean farmers who supplies Proxifresh Rwanda Ltd, told The New Times that it provides them with agricultural inputs including seeds, fertilisers and pesticides and insecticide and the payments are made by deducting the input cost from the sales of their bean harvest. French beans are among Rwanda’s specialty vegetables expected to expand its exports base, along with snow peas and pepper, among others.

(Source: The New Times, Rwanda)