Rwanda’s Rural Sector Support Project2019-04-17T08:26:33+00:00

Project Description

The multi-unit refrigerated storage project will benefit more than 100,000 smallholder farmers

Extending the cold chain to remote rural areas of Rwanda is a strategy implemented by the Rwandan Government. The Ministry of Agriculture, through the RSSP (Rural Sector Support Program), is committed to the development of innovative supply chains and energy efficient cold storage systems.

packhouse cold room

The client challenge

In a country such as Rwanda, where agriculture is the backbone of the economy and food security relies on local production, storage for major staple crops is crucial. Postharvest commodity losses are particularly high, reaching 50% through the entire post-harvest chain before reaching the consumer

The InspiraFarms solution

In the third quarter of 2018, InspiraFarms commissioned ten modular Food Processing and Refrigerated Storage Facilities in six districts across four out of the five provinces of Rwanda. Each facility has a total area of 150 square meters that includes cold storage space, a processing area, an aggregation area, administrative facilities, and hygiene spaces, all running completely off-grid and in compliance with food safety certification standards. Primary processing and handling, and initial aggregation will occur at the community level (cooperative or first aggregation point).

The success story

The system will give an active role to farmers’ cooperatives in managing the refrigerated storage facilities in the different districts, and will facilitate farmers’ connections to commercial markets and direct linkages with food and export markets.

Attacking the root causes of postharvest loss will contribute significantly to improving the lives of millions of Rwandan farmers. By facilitating the use of first-mile distribution refrigerated storage for small-scale farmers, there could be a reduction of up to 40% on farm crop loss.