Garden fresh

Forging a Future through Fruit and Vegetables

Whilst exporters in Rwanda largely rely on production from their own farms, Garden Fresh are pioneering the outgrower model by actively engaging with other co-operatives and smallholder farmers to source their produce. Furthermore, Garden Fresh provide farmers with inputs, such as seeds and crop protection, as well as training on climate adaptation solutions, to enable them to meet quality and volume standards required for export.

Garden Fresh's Social Impact

The co-operative’s impact extends to the wider community. By employing local, casual workers during the harvest, an average of 300 community members per season are empowered with a decent income. Meanwhile, by providing a market for farmers’ produce, farmers receive better prices than those offered by the local market. In addition to improving livelihoods, in the eastern province of Nyagatare, Garden Fresh have contributed towards the construction of a school.

In 2017, Garden Fresh delivered training to its management staff on the horticultural value chain – from cultivation to marketing. Following the training, Garden Fresh gained both GlobalGAP (Global Good Agricultural Practices) and SMETA (Sadex Members Ethical Trade Audit) certifications, facilitating their access to broader export markets, such as Europe and the Middle East. Fruitful relationships with new buyers have subsequently enabled the co-operative to increase its level of production and strengthen its support of local farming communities further.

In 2022, Garden Fresh opened the first privately owned packhouse in Rwanda, based in the northern region of Masoro. Packhouses serve as a critical link between farmers and export markets, helping to aggregate and prepare produce. The packhouse will reduce post-harvest losses and generate new employment opportunities for 300 Rwandan women and young people each harvest season. Prior to this, Garden Fresh depended upon the use of a standard packhouse with capacity limitations.

GB Banjara, HortInvest project manager, said: 

“In order to achieve the national goal, you have to increase everything – production, transportation, marketing, export – by three to four times. So, this facility is very critical in achieving that future goal, and it will lead to employment creation and more income to farmers.”

Garden Fresh have also invested in two refrigerated trucks’, which will provide transport between Garden Fresh farms and packhouses, increasing product quality and the percentage of exportable produce. Collectively, the cold chain facilities will enable Garden Fresh to gain BRC certification in food safety, these investments are expected to increase efficiencies in post-harvest activities and decrease post-harvest losses by 30%.

Above all, the co-operative’s cold chain facilities present an opportunity to meet the requirements of Rwanda’s export market and tap into nation’s annual horticulture export revenues, which are expected to yield USD 130 million in 2024 – rising from USD 42 million – according to data from the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB).

Garden Fresh Managing Director, Emmanuel Harelimana, said: 

“Garden Fresh is in expansion mode with more demand with new clients, we have to adjust with new planting programme, infrastructure to equip our farms with high technology such as irrigation and have cold trucks for maintaining cold chain.”

Shared Interest and Garden Fresh

Garden Fresh became a customer in 2023, and are using Shared Interest finance to support them in meeting the escalating demands of their growing value chain and to fulfil increasing orders. The majority of the finance is used to provide a stable income to Garden Fresh farmers by purchasing their produce directly. Meanwhile, a portion of our finance is allocated to improving cost efficiencies by bulk-purchasing packaging materials from Kenya.

Speaking about the impact of the loan, Garden Fresh Managing Director, Emmanuel Harelimana, said: 

“Farmers are paid on time, and encouraged to farm as businesses, and now we have more demand to plan more. They get extra income and are able to improve their livelihood, get medical insurance and send kids to school. This is a steady market  for their crops and we offer an improved price compared to what they could get from local market (an increase of up to 80%).”

The Impacts of Climate Change on Fruit and Vegetable Production in Rwanda

Our Lending Team in East Africa told us that an increase of pests and diseases caused by the impacts of climate change are an issue for the co-operative.

Lending Officer Kennedy Msawi, said: 

“In fresh fruit production, climate change is causing increased pests, resulting in farmers using pesticides to control them. Approved pesticides to ensure the quality of the crops are costly and buyers are insisting farmers make use of greenhouses to stop cross-contamination with nearby farms using unapproved pesticides.”

Meanwhile, Emmanuel said: 

“A prolonged rainy season has affected our planning and rotation programme as we were not able to grow beans or maize for the local market as rotation from our programme and farmers missed that opportunity. Also, we were affected by diseases coming with too long rains. For example, last year we had rains from October to May which was huge and abnormal.”

Looking to the future, Garden Fresh will continue to train their farmers on climate change impacts and Good Agricultural Practices, in an effort to continue improving upon the quality of their produce. In addition, the co-operative will train farmers in passionfruit farming, enabling them to meet increasing demand. Garden Fresh will also continue sourcing for new international buyers in 2024, with current negotiations underway with a retailer in the United Kingdom for fresh produce.