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By Annonciata Byukusenge
Pineapple farmers in Ngoma District say the profits they earn from this crop have completely changed their lives. Many of them note that while they used to grow other crops for years, those only provided food for the household but never led to meaningful progress.
Muzerwa Alexis, one of the pineapple farmers, explained how important this farming has become for their development: “In the past, we used to grow subsistence crops. We had food to eat, but whenever we needed money for other problems, we simply didn’t have it.”
He added that one of the biggest transformations brought by pineapple farming was in housing.
“Before, we lived in old, rundown houses that put our lives at risk. We could only afford to build small, weak houses that didn’t last. Thanks to pineapples, we’ve managed to build bigger, stronger homes. In the past, even the way we slept was a problem; boys and girls had to share one bed, which wasn’t decent.”
Like many members of the KOABANAMU cooperative, Muzerwa attributes their progress to this type of farming.
Mukakarangwa Eugènie, another member of KOABANAM, shared her personal experience as both a farmer and a mother.
“As a woman, combining farming with other household responsibilities is not easy. For me, it was particularly challenging since I also have a family to look after. But when you have a supportive husband, you can manage together. On my five-hectare farm, I harvest around 20 tons of pineapples, and each kilo sells for 400 Rwandan francs.”
Currently, KOABANAM cultivates pineapples on 500 ha of land across the Zaza and Mugesera sectors, while in total, pineapple farming in the two areas covers about 1,200 ha.
Making Better Use of the Harvest
In June 2024, the farmers learned about an opportunity from the CDAT project, which was supporting farmers’ initiatives. For years, they had struggled with losses as much of their harvest spoiled before reaching the market. To solve this, they designed a project to buy a truck.
Muzerwa said, “During harvest season, we lost so many pineapples simply because we couldn’t transport them to the market. We came up with a 50-million-franc project to buy a truck. Fortunately, CDAT accepted and contributed 50%, that is 25 million francs, while we covered the other 25 million.”
Now, the farmers say, their produce no longer goes to waste. As soon as they harvest, the truck takes the pineapples directly to the market. The money they once spent on renting unreliable vehicles, which sometimes never even showed up, can now be invested in other income-generating activities.
CDAT has already supported 244 projects across the country, with a value of over 8.6 billion Rwf.
CDAT Commercialization and De-Risking for Agricultural Transformation Project is funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board through its single project implementation unit (SPIU).
