Rwanda is set to build its first avocado processing factory in 2017, which will start processing avocado based products by 2019, according to the new Huye district plan fiscal year 2016/ 2017.
This will be the first factory of its kind in the country and is expected to boost the economy and provide jobs to many citizens.
“The factory will be able to process soap, wine, oil, Vaseline. We have not yet estimated how much it will cost, but the raw materials are available among the community farmers,” district Mayor Eugène Kayiranga Muzuka said.
Huye farmers are in high gear preparations ahead of the construction of the avocado factory, and some have already started planting the Hass and Fuerte Avocado trees for the plantation.
“We are already receiving free stems for the avocado trees. This is a good starting point for us farmers and we are all set to focus of this project to benefit from supplying raw avocados to the plant,” said Goreti Kayirere, one of the avocado farmers in Huye district.
Rwanda may also have to use the advantage of raw materials from Burundi, which holds the largest growth of avocado trees in the region.
Burundi has planted eight million trees to date and it is hoped that it will become a major exporter of avocado products in East Africa.
Market prices for avocados have since gone down from 300 to 150 Burundian francs (20 to 10 US cents).
