In a push for better economic opportunities, Burundi avocado farmers are banding together to advocate for fair pricing, improving their incomes and strengthening the agricultural sector.
In a remote region of Burundi, farmers recognize that they should seek out the truck parked alongside the highway whenever they wish to sell their avocados.
They emerge from villages and gather into a crowd, observing intently as crews employed by export companies in nearby African countries weigh and load the crated fruits.
These roadside exchanges, frequently occurring during peak harvest season, have consistently offered a reliable market for small-scale avocado growers in a nation often ranked among the world’s poorest.
However, the transactions now hold the potential for genuine profits, partly due to the national government’s intervention and farmers’ cooperatives collaborating to establish terms with foreign avocado dealers.
Just a year ago, farmers received only 10 cents per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of avocados sold to transporters, which was less than the cost of a small bottle of water. Nowadays, they earn approximately 70 cents for the same amount—a significant boost for those who primarily farm to feed their families.
Another update: Payments in U.S. dollars are now directly deposited into the bank accounts of farmers’ cooperatives, allowing them to promptly pay their members shortly after the avocado transport trucks depart.
Groups like Green Gold Burundi, based in Kayanza and representing 200,000 farmers across the country, serve as intermediaries who are better equipped than individual growers to protect against exploitation.
According to Ferdinand Habimana, vice president of the administrative board for Green Gold Burundi, involving cooperatives is a crucial step in regulating the nation’s avocado exports. While President Évariste Ndayishimiye sees avocados as an opportunity to diversify Burundi’s export portfolio, there are currently no origin labeling requirements for these locally grown pear-shaped green fruits.
“It’s now legally completed, and our current focus is on ensuring that the [avocados] can arrive at their final destination as if sourced from Burundi,” said Habimana, discussing his group’s interactions with exporters in Tanzania and other regional locations.
Zacharie Munezero, responsible for quality management at Green Gold Burundi, admitted that the 70 cents farmers receive per kilogram of avocados is insufficient compared to the $3 to $5 exporters can obtain in international markets.
In many regions of sub-Saharan Africa, avocados are inexpensive and can be bought in large quantities directly from farmers for a very low cost.
In Burundi, the cultivation of avocados expanded significantly after 2007 when Pierre Nkurunziza, the country’s late longtime leader, began praising the fruit as a valuable source of nutrition and income.
Many households that don’t grow the types preferred by exporters usually have at least one avocado plant.
In the local language, “amavocat” refers to avocado, while the large native variety of this fruit is named “amapeter,” in honor of Nkurunziza, who passed away in 2020.
While coffee and tea exports—Burundi’s traditional sources of essential foreign currency—have been coordinated for a long time, the trade in Burundian avocados has remained unregulated, as noted by farmer representatives and a government trade official.
They contend that avocado exports have the potential to be as profitable for the country as coffee, provided the government exercises its regulatory authority effectively.
They suggested adopting key measures such as ensuring a minimum price for farmers, preventing direct dealings between foreign traders and farmers, and promoting the extensive cultivation of Hass avocados preferred by European consumers.
“Burundi should not solely depend on coffee and tea,” stated Onesime Niyukuri, an advisor in the foreign trade department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the country’s restricted range of exports.
He stated that there is no issue if avocado dealers from other parts of East Africa “can come and buy at a price already set by the government.”
Earlier this year, the government ramped up its efforts to coordinate avocado exports due to sporadic shortages of sugar and other goods caused by a lack of dollars.
According to the Ministry of Trade, under new regulations requiring foreign dealers to register with local authorities, exporters must provide copies of their supply contracts and identify market destinations for Burundian avocados.
Niyukuri stated that Burundi plans to annually export over 10 million tonnes (11 million tons) of avocados by 2030, according to the government’s strategic plan. Current data on foreign exchange earnings from Burundi’s avocado exports were not immediately accessible.
The government aims to plant 50,000 avocado trees in each of Burundi’s 17 provinces. This effort complements the existing planting of 10 million traditional variety trees throughout the country.
Local authorities in provinces like Kayanza are encouraging each household to cultivate a minimum of 10 trees bearing avocados suitable for export.
This includes the Mexican Fuerte variety and, notably, the Hass avocado. First cultivated in California in 1926, Hass has since become the most commercially successful avocado type worldwide.
Hass avocados, characterized by their dark, bumpy skins and vibrant yellow-green flesh, require over two weeks to ripen but can endure several days during transportation.
According to farmers, this variety is also recognized for its high productivity, with some trees yielding as much as a tonne (1.1 ton) of avocados during the harvest season from August to December.
Burundi, a small mountainous nation comparable in size to Maryland, has a population of 13 million people.
According to World Bank figures, in 2023, the annual per capita income was $199—one of the lowest rates worldwide—with nearly 65% of the population living below the poverty line.
Agriculture serves as the primary economic activity, with many individuals in rural provinces like Kayanza cultivating only enough potatoes and vegetables to meet their annual consumption needs.
Avocado farming has unexpectedly become a dependable source of income for many, even those who have just a few plants in their yards.
Eric Nsabimana, a farmer from Kayanza, remembered beginning his journey as an avocado grower following former leader Nkurunziza’s campaign.
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According to Nsabimana, some farmers felt compelled to grow avocados and ended up removing the seedlings provided by the government. They now regret missing out on that opportunity.
“The people who didn’t plant now have regrets,” he said, adding that avocados “can transform your livelihood.”
Nsabimana, having earned over $6,000 from avocado sales in certain years, stated that he used his profits to purchase an additional five hectares (12.4 acres) of land where 500 avocado plants are now cultivated.
Habimana, a senior official at Green Gold Burundi, stated that his organization initiated efforts to mobilize avocado farmers for improved compensation after recognizing earlier this year that they were being exploited by foreign produce traders.
In January, he spent a day trailing a truck that was carrying Burundian avocados to Tanzania.
He and others assumed that the cargo was intended for consumption at that location.
Upon witnessing the avocados being washed, weighed, and packed in Njombe town, he realized they were destined for another international export market.
“There was an additional destination located elsewhere, outside of Njombe,” Nsabimana stated.
Upon his return to Kayanza, Green Gold Burundi focused on developing a strategy to register avocado farmers directly, cutting out middlemen and ensuring they received fair prices for their produce.
The cooperative covers the necessary taxes and retains a portion of the avocado profits to sustain its office operations while offering members benefits like complimentary seedlings and organic fertilizer.
Munezero, the quality management official for the cooperative, stated that although pricing “remains an issue,” their group is concentrating on developing skills and motivating residents to cultivate more avocado plants. Over the past year, Green Gold Burundi has provided millions of seedlings, generating excitement among farmers eager to become part of the growing avocado trend.
Even growers with just a few backyard Hass plants have started viewing avocados as an increasingly valuable cash crop.
“Avocados represent income for us,” said Samuel Niyinyibutsa, a grower. He added that he knows some residents of Kayanza who feel “left behind” when they see others receiving payments for their produce.
“But they still have time,” Niyinyibutsa remarked. “They can be encouraged to start cultivating avocados, as this crop could thrive for them just as it has for us.”
