When Garden Fresh, a local firm, began exporting horticultural products in 2016, its sales were less than $1 million per year. Today, its annual export value has surpassed $3.5 million, according to the company. When the firm started exporting, it exported only 200 tonnes annually. This capacity has since grown five-fold to 1,000 tonnes per year.
This expansion has created substantial growth in employment, with the company's Managing Director Emmanuel Harerimana recalling that the company began with about 50 workers, the number that has since grown to 500.
"This shows that there has been a significant growth," he says, adding that they now supply French beans, chilli, broccoli, avocados, and passion fruits mainly to European and Gulf markets.
The firm is one of the largest exporters of horticulture products in the country. Garden Fresh's growth is a typical example of how far the horticulture sector has evolved. Over the past decade, the sector has grown to become one of the country's fastest-expanding agricultural export earners.
Read more at The New Times
