Growing Better Beans Boosts Earnings for Rwanda Smallholders
In Rwanda, smallholder farmers are testing ways to transition from subsistence-oriented approaches to more market-based production. A pilot has demonstrated potential to significantly increase their production, as well as profits.
Story by Daniel Kibsgaard
For COTU, a cooperative consisting of 300 smallholder farmers in Ruhango District in Rwanda, maize is their primary source of income grown during the country’s main agriculture Season A. Traditionally, the cooperative rotated from maize to mixed bean production for the secondary Season B.
With the support of the Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA), an initiative implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP), cooperatives receive assistance to pilot an initiative to transition away from the subsistence-oriented bean production to a market-based approach of cultivating high value single variety beans.
This is part of WFP’s wider objective to support the government’s vision of the commercialization of the smallholder sector in Rwanda.
WFP through FtMA currently reaches over 83,000 smallholder farmers in rural communities throughout Rwanda. Cooperatives receive support on good farming practices to enhance crop quality and quantity and how to reduce post-harvest losses.
WFP links cooperatives to formal financial services and provides agricultural equipment allowing them to scale-up and enhance production. Once crops are harvested, cooperatives are linked directly to private sector companies to sell their quality harvests at premium market prices.
Better beans, better prices
The single variety beans initiative encourages cooperatives to cultivate more profitable bean varieties, selected based on market-demand, so the smallholders increase their income.
In recent times, mixed bean varieties grown during Season B sold for RWF 450 to 550 per kilo (US$0.46–0.56) on the local market. Well sorted, quality single variety beans can fetch up to double the price depending on the variety. With a market-driven approach, improved agricultural practices can also drive up yields, further increasing profits per hectare for smallholder farmers.
As a part of this process, WFP brought together different actors along the beans supply chain to assess which varieties cooperatives had been growing versus which varieties the buyers are most interested in.
“Ultimately, we chose to trial switching to the Colta bean, a yellow bean variety, because of its good market value,” said the President of the Cooperative Twubake Ubumwe (COTU), Jean Marcel Penda. “It is less popular locally and is therefore suitable for export markets where we can get a higher price.”
When they understood that the Colta bean could sell for RWF 800 per kilo (US$0.82), farmers from COTU cooperative set aside 20 hectares of land to test the new variety in the 2020 Season B.
With the assistance of FtMA, COTU was connected the cooperative to a buyer in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the cooperative was able to sell all 15 metric tons of their Colta beans for RWF 750 per kilo (US$ 0.77), generating RWF 11,250,000 (US$11,500) in income at an impressive RWF 100 per kilo (USD 0.10) price premium over local market prices.
Profits lead to growth
COTU’s farmers consider the pilot an overall success with many enjoying drastically improved earnings. Japhet Twahirwa increased revenue from RWF 240,000 in 2019B to RWF 600,000 (USD 246–614) in 2020B, 150 percent up from the previous year. “The single variety beans workshop opened my eyes. With the money I made from selling Colta beans, I was able to buy a cow and 0.5 hectares of land to increase the size of my property to 1 hectare,” he said.
Cooperative member Florence Mukansonera saw her earnings rise from 35,000 RWF to 120,000 RWF, a whopping 243 percent increase from the previous year. “I can now afford both organic and mineral fertilizer as well as rent an additional 0.5 hectares of land, increasing the total size of my plot from 1 to 1.5 hectares,” she said. “This will greatly increase my output in the coming maize harvest.”
Stanislas Gatambara became convinced of cultivating single variety beans after increasing profits from 150,000 RWF to 210,000 RWF (US$154–215). “With the money I earned from selling Colta beans I was able to renovate my house,” he said. “Next season, I will use the savings I made to rent another 0.1 hectares of land to increase the total size of my plot to 0.3 hectares.”
Furthermore, Stanislas and Florence, who both have six children of school age in their families, were able to save money for children’s education and were better positioned to buy food and pay other expenses, at a time when much of the country’s economy was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COTU members are eager to grow single variety beans again in the coming Season B, while integrating lessons learned from the 2020 Season B.
“We aim to double the land dedicated to grow single variety beans from 20 to 40 hectares,” said COTU President Penda. “This time we will also plant the beans with crop insurance to be able to claim compensation in the event of any damage caused from heavy rains or other shocks.”
Farmers are also enthusiastic to implement skills learned at FtMA-supported farmer training. For example, Florence is eager to try mixing organic manure with fertilizer, a technique she learned to further increase yields.
“Moving forward, I have more of an understanding of the best time to plant to reduce the risk of crop damage and increase my production,” said Japhet Twahirwa.
In the next growing season, the cooperative is looking forward to FtMA’s continued support, particularly in connecting them with buyers. “I am grateful to FtMA for exposing us to the power of growing single variety beans which has brought additional income to me and my family enabling us to better face our challenges,” said Florence.
The single variety beans pilot has demonstrated significant potential to transform the commercial beans value chain in Rwanda. FtMA will continue to pilot this approach and support mainstreaming single variety beans cultivation in Rwanda.
