From Shoe Hawker to Thriving Agribusiness Entrepreneur in Rwanda

As East Africa battles one of the worst droughts in 40 years, farming activities in Rwanda continue to thrive thanks to favourable climatic conditions and government interventions. 

This is 46-year old Kenyan William Macharia who has lived in this country for the last 13 years.

“I came to the country in 2010 by bus. Opportunities dried up at home after the 2007/2008 post-election violence so I decided to come here and give it a try. When I got here I started hawking shoes that I had brought from Kariokor to earn a living. I then saw an advert for a job at an agribusiness company and I was employed,” Mr Macharia tells Citizen TV. 

It was during one of the training sessions for that company in North Rwanda that he caught the eye of an investor.

“A foreigner liked what I was training about and decided to partner with me to open up a company in Rwanda,” he adds. 

On these rolling hills of Bugesera district, Eastern Rwanda, 25 kilometers from Capital Kigali, is where he set up Sunripes Farm Rwanda in 2016,  to grow and export vegetables. 

Later on, Holland Greentech was born which supplies farming input to farmers across the East Africa region.

“These companies were born by identifying the market first and later on creating products that fit the market. We have provided jobs for 300 people,” Mr Macharia adds

On this 8 hectare piece of land, the team grows habanero chillies, sweet peppers, English cucumbers, sweet melons and cherry tomatoes.

On another section of the farm, they practice open farming where they rotate potatoes, cabbages and french beans.

About 60% of the farm’s produce is sold to fresh produce companies who export to European market.

The remaining produce from the farm is sold to high-end hotels and supermarkets in Bugesera and Kigali City. 

In 2019 the National Agricultural Export Devpt board of Rwanda estimated that Sunripe Farms generates at least USD100,000 or Ksh. 13M every year from vegetable production. 

“We use greenhouses because they help us to keep our products safe from pests and meet international standards.,” Macharia says

One of the reasons why horticultural farming thrives here is because of an ideal climate, fertile soil and an abundant, hardworking labor force.

Rwanda's economy remains predominantly dependent on agriculture, with nearly 90 percent of rural households involved in small-scale farming on small pieces of land according to the World Food Program. 

Irregular rainfall, drought, floods, pests and diseases, together with limited land for agriculture are some of the factors that the Government has had to deal with.

“Here the Government has taken up large blocks of land and supports farmers to farm. They provide fertiliser and other incentives. Also tree planting to keep the land green and fertile,”Macharia says

The IGAD climate prediction and applications center has predicted  that drier than normal conditions will be experienced in parts of Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Tanzania, and Western South Sudan forcing farmers like William and his team to be more innovative in how they store and utilize water.

According to William, cartels and brokers here are kept at bay by cooperative societies that support farmers to get their products to the market.

The trained educationist with a diploma in Agriculture,  believes that greenhouse farming provides his farm with a buffer  against the effects of ongoing harsh climatic conditions in the region, even as he seeks to keep up with the demand for his products.

“We ship out 500 kgs of sweet pepper, 800 kgs of tomatoes, 500 kgs of Habanero chillies and 2 tonnes of french beans for export per week,” Macharia says.

He applauds Rwanda for its straight-forward tax policy, import-export support and ease in setting up a new business. 

William now has his sights set on setting up a similar establishment in Kenya, where his agribusiness dreams first began.