$300,000 for Rwanda through e-trading

“The fact that our coffee has [at its peak] attracted $81 per kilogramme online should be a signal to all stakeholders, especially farmers to focus on quality along the [whole] supply chain.”

That is what Tony Sanganira, Rwanda’s State Minister for Agriculture, said when news trickled through that the central-east African country racked up just over $300,000 through their online coffee auctions. For the 2014 internet sales twenty-eight lots of coffee went under the hammer, weighing in at 15,200kg.

It represents a bumper haul for the nation who took in just over $225,000 last year.

It is believed that some eighty-six companies representing eighteen countries took part in the auction, which took place in Kigali’s National Agricultural Exports Board’s (NAEB) offices.

The varieties of coffee that was chosen to be sold in this manner all formed part of the 180 lots that were selected during last month’s 2014 Rwanda Cup of Excellence.

Such is the euphoria surrounding the improvement is that Sanganira has set a target for a record “$100 per kilogramme” in future auctions so that “farmers can benefit and improve [their] livelihoods.”

The Minister also urged more people associated within the coffee industry to embrace this form of online further on down the line. It is believed that the government believe that e-trading is a fantastic opportunity for both the sector and the country as a whole, and can be a used as a marketing tool.

Sanganira also re-affirmed the government’s continued commitment to financially supporting the entire agricultural industry which, somewhat obviously, includes the coffee sector.

Meanwhile, also buoyant because of the impressive gains, NAEB’s director general Ambassador George Kayona also pledged his entity’s support to farmers: Kayona stressed that there would be a sustained course of investment in machinery.

During the first half of this year, Rwanda’s coffee exports brought in $12.8m which represents a severe drop from the 2013 total of $56m.

The National Bank of Rwanda has attributed this to the presence of bad weather which has severely impacted production.

photo: Daniel Kulinski (Creative Commons)