This is a study of scopes of chilly farming in Rwanda,including the package of practice for chilly , financial assistance and country profile etc.

1. PACKAGE OF PRACTISE
FOR ‘CHILLY PAPRIKA’
Rwanda

2. CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Country profile
3. Chilli growing areas
4. Chilli farming and varieties grown
5. Soil and temperature requirements
6. Practices Soil preparation
7. Planting
8. Plant population and spacing
9. Transplanting seedlings
10. Growth of plant
11. Fertilisation
12. Irrigation
13. Weed control
14. Pest and disease control
15. Post harvest handling
16. Resource areas in Africa

4. Rwanda is a landlocked country located in Central/ Eastern Africa bordered by the
Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, Uganda to the North, Tanzania to the
East, and Burundi to the South.
The Republic of Rwanda lies 75 miles south of the equator in the Tropic of
Capricorn, 880 miles ’as the crow flies’ west of the Indian Ocean and 1,250 miles
east of the Atlantic Ocean – literally in the heart of Africa.
Rwanda has 26,338 square kilo meters of which 3% is water; Rwanda is the
world’s 149th-largest country.
Annual rainfall is generally heavier in the western and north western mountains
than in the eastern savannas.
Rwanda is endowed with outstanding topographical features which include
mountains, forests, natural lakes, rivers and water falls.
1 . INTRODUCTION

5. Country profile

8. 3. Chilli growing areas
•Kamonyi
•Gisagara
•Muhanga
•Nyaruguru
•Nyanza
•Ruhango
•Huye
•Nyamagabe

9. Farming practices

10. 4. Chilli farming
The attractive aspects of chilli peppers for Rwanda is that they are neither
perishable nor bulky ,requires little insecticide or fertilizers, and can be quite
profitable. The Rwandan birds eye chilli is among the most pungent varieties of
pepper in the world . The country’s export of chilli stands at 21 tons per annual.
Varieties of Chilli
The following varieties of chilli are grown in Rwanda;
•The Rwandan bird eye chilli.
•Red chilli
•Scotch bonnet
•Yellow chilli

11. Varieties
of Chilli
bird eye
chilli
•Red chilli
Scotch
bonnet
Yellow
chilli

12. 5. Soil and temperature requirements
Chillies grow well in areas where the average temperature is 24 °C for
at least 4 to 5 months of the year. Chillies can be grown in a wide
range of soils. The optimum soil for production is sandy loam, deeper
than 400 mm with a pH between 5.5 and 7.
Factors affecting:
 Nutrient composition
 Compaction
 Effective soil depth
 PH
 Crop rotation
 Herbicide residues
 Water holding capacity
• The soil must permit adequate root growth to support the plant and
supply water, oxygen and mineral nutrients and must be free of
toxic elements. The rate of root growth is dependent on the degree
of compaction or bulk density of the soil.

13. • The degree of soil compaction varies with soil type and location. The rate of aerial and root
growth of plants increases with the oxygen contents of the soil. Root density is highest where
there is a high rate of diffusion.
• Root development of chilli plants can be extensive if soil water and plant conditions are optimal.
Early root development should be encouraged, because nearly all root growth occurs before fruit
set.
• Organic matter in the form of decayed leaves, compost, sawdust or animal manure is a source of
plant nutrients and acts as a soil conditioner. It increases the capacity of the soil to retain water
and nutrients.
• It also promotes root growth and the infiltration of water and air into the soil. Care should be
taken to use, where applicable good quality organic matter known to be free of plant pathogens.

14. 6.Practices Soil preparation
Soil preparation improves the potential for profitable production of
chillies. Any primary soil preparation must be aimed at creating growing
conditions for pepper plants to develop the optimal root system in a
specific soil profile. The highest percentage roots will be found in the top
600mm of the soil.
The advantages of soil preparation are:
 No restrictions on root development.
 Less chance of compaction.
 More oxygen in the soil creating better root development.
 Higher yield.
 Reduction in production costs.
 More vegetative growth.
 More tolerance to drought and stress.
 Horizontal and vertical compaction layers broken.
 Better water retention. Increased uptake of moisture and nutrients.
• Soil can be prepared in many ways, such as a fine bed to allow good germination and infiltration of water. The
height of the beds should be 20 cm in the dry season and 35 cm in the wet season.
• Mulch should be used to minimise leaching of fertiliser, conserve moisture and reduce weeds.

15. 7.Planting
The seeds should be planted during spring in pots or trays of sterilised seed
compost, and maintained at a temperature of about 20 °C (70 °F).
Sow the seeds in nursery trays or outdoor seedbeds when there is no longer a
risk of frost. These seedlings can be transplanted when they have 4 to 5 true
leaves.
Space the plants 40 to 50 cm apart with 70 to 80 cm between the rows and add
mulch at a thickness of at least 10 cm.
Seedling production
Seedling establishment:
 Model 128, 200 seedling trays are the most popular. Although more
expensive, larger seedling trays lead to better and more root development.
Seedlings take 6 weeks in summer to reach transplant maturity. Seedlings
take about 8-10 weeks in winter to transplant maturity.
 Deep sowing: More advantageous in warmer conditions. Seed takes longer to
surface due to cooler temperatures and longer growing distances.

16.  Shallow sowing: More advantageous in cooler conditions. Seed surface
quicker due to warmer temperatures and short growing distances.
Sufficient levels of moisture are necessary.
 . At the optimum soil or growth media temperatures of 25 to 30˚C it will
take pepper seeds 8 days to germinate. At temperatures ranges of 0-5˚C,
40˚C and above no germination is expected with seed being dormant.
Seedlings should be grown in a well-aerated medium, which has good water
holding capacity and at a pH of around 6.5.
Peat, bark and vermiculite mixes are used.
The medium should be pre-enriched and the seedlings should be fertilized.
Seedling management is a critical factor, and the following points may result
in physiological disorders: Incorrect sowing time. Cold temperatures,
particularly below 7 °C. Cold grown seedlings. Over-fertilization of
seedlings. Oversized seedlings at transplant. Temperature differences between
the seedling nursery and the farm.
A precision seeder is recommended to place single seedlings at a uniform
depth.

17. 8. Plant population and spacing
Open field:
The single most important factor when making a decision around plant
population is the type of chemical spraying system- or method that the
grower is going to use for the duration of the crop.
Everything should be designed around this implement so as to get in
between rows when spraying to effectively control pests and diseases. Plant
population is around 30 000 plants per Ha. This is done by normal single
line rows.
A tramline system is also very popular. This is done where the rows are
planted closer together or on a dripper system on each side of the dripper
line. The advantage of this system is the achievement of a dense plant
canopy that protects the fruit against sunburn. The negative aspect of this is
that chemical control might be a challenge.

18. 9. Transplanting seedlings
 Seedlings must be hardened off before leaving the nursery. This is done by
making sure that excessive nitrogen and irrigation is kept to a minimum.
 Two to five days before collecting the seedlings, the trays must be taken out
of the nursery and placed in a position where more sunlight is available to the
plants. It is highly recommended to always establish seedlings in wet soil.
 Always make sure that the holes on the ridges where seedlings are about to be
transplanted are exactly the same size as the seedling plugs. This will prevent
issues such as J-rooting where seedling plugs are forced into the soil and
roots are bent over resulting in seedling uniformity issues and yield losses.

19.  A chilli plant starts to develop with a period of leaf growth. It then sets the first
flower in the axis of the first two branches. Each branch forms one leaf, one
flower and two new branches.
 Once the fruit has set, it is retained by the plant for further growth development.
Pollination is followed by fruit set. The pollen must be moved from the male to
the female part of the flower. This occurs by way of the wind or visits by insects
such as bees. Pollination in the open land is usually much better than with
greenhouse production due to the natural wind factor.
 Temperatures for good fruit set should be between 20 and 30° Celsius. In drought
and heat stress, pepper plants not only lose flowers, but also buds. Loss of bud’s
delays flowering by several weeks and reduces yields dramatically. Factors
influencing flower drop or loss of buds include poor light intensity, excessive
nitrogen and insect damage.
10. Growth of plant

20. Farmers can ensure good fruit set on their plants by taking the following actions:
 Select varieties with good fruit set under local conditions.
 Ensure good irrigation management.
 Ensure good fertilisation management.
 Use a good preventative spraying programme against insect infestation.
 Adapt the fertiliser programme to varieties that have the tendency to flush.
 Use varieties with extended flower set so as to spread the risks.
11. Fertilisation
In order to realise acceptable yields in chilli, fertilisers must be used and before
applying fertilisers, soil tests must be conducted to determine the type and the quantity
of fertiliser in the soil to ensure optimum plant growth. It should be fertilised with a
combination of organic and/or chemical fertilisers. In order to calculate the correct
nutrient requirement, the following aspects need to be available and taken into
consideration:
 Nutrient withdrawal
 figures Fertilizer used in the past on the specific area intended to be planted.
 Soil type.
 Soil analyses.
 Soil Acidity (pH).
 Quality of irrigation water.
 Micro elements.

21. 12. Irrigation
Chillies require about 600 mm of water during the growing season in the form of rain or
irrigation. During flowering and fruit set water should be sufficient and waterlogging should
be avoided as the crop is sensitive. Too much water may inhibit flowering and fruit
formation and too little may lead to flower drop.
Drip or flood irrigation is preferable to overhead irrigation, due to susceptibility to foliar
diseases.
Furrow and drip irrigation are mostly recommended. If overhead irrigation has to be used, it
should not be scheduled for late in the evening because wet leaves and fruit promote
diseases. Plants should be dry before nightfall.
Too little water might lead
to:
 Sub-optimum yields.
 Decrease in the photosynthesis
 Plants developing stunted growth.
 No production of flowers.
 Low percentage fruit set.
 Slow fruit development.
 Small fruit sizes.
 Poor quality.
 Flower abortion.
Too much water might
lead to:
 Not enough oxygen in
the soil.
 Plants becoming wilted.
 Root diseases
becoming prevalent.
 Stunted plant
development.

22. For irrigation purposes, the growth of chilli can be divided into four growth
stages.
Stage 1:
Establishment Can last up to 2 weeks. Seedling establishment takes place and
plants start to grow actively. Low amounts of water are used. After seedling
establishment to just before first flower, it is highly recommended (although a
fine line of management) to reduce water drastically.
It will force the roots to grow aggressively deeper into the soil looking for
moist. This will help the plants at fruit set stage to handle difficult and stress
related periods better due to the increased roots.
Stage 2:
Vegetative growth Development of first flowers and fruit. Double the amount of
water is used compared to the previous stage.
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4

23. Stage 3:
Fruit set Growth is at its highest. Water usage at this stage is at its highest during the lifespan of
the crop.
Stage 4:
Ripening and harvesting.
13. Weed control
Weeds also contribute as a yield restricting factor. Firstly, weeds compete directly with the crop
for moisture and nutrients available in the soil. Weeds could also be a host for various pests and
diseases. It is also known that some weeds have the ability to produce enzymes that reduce plant
growth in some crops. Capsicums are very sensitive to weed competition, particularly12 to 48
days after transplant. Problems occurring during this stage could severely affect the yield.
Therefore, it is crucially important to control weeds at this stage. The best and most effective
way to control weeds would be:
 Weeds should be controlled to limit competition for nutrients, water and light. Mulches can
also be used to suppress weeds and if not effective, recommended herbicides should be used.
 Material that allows sunlight to enter the structure and then converting the trapped solar
energy to heat, thus providing increased temperatures for continued production. In advanced
structures, humidity and even light can be controlled to ensure maximum crop yields.

24. 14. Pest and disease control
Frequent pests include American bollworm, cutworms, aphids, beetles, thrips, nematodes and red spider mites.
Frequent diseases include virus and bacterial wilt and powdery mildew. Registered chemicals, good cultural
practices, such as proper crop rotation, as well as field sanitation are the three mechanisms that should be
integrated to control all the pests and diseases affecting the crop. Proper sanitation should include the removal
of all the diseased plant material.

25. Pests
Aphids, mites, thrips and white flies
Control
 Timely weeding to destroy host plants.
 Use recommended insecticides .
 Root knot nematode is usually a problem only in poor sandy soils so add
organic matter before planting.
Diseases
· Common diseases include Anthracnose, bacterial wilts, Fusarium wilt, late
blight, Downey and Powder mildews and rust.
· Virus infections (tobacco mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus) are a major
factor in reducing the productive life of commercial chili fields.
Control
 Remedial measures to disease attacks include; use of certified seeds and
ensuring field hygiene.
Remove virus-diseased plants (mottled leaves, stunted) from the field.
 Practicing crop rotation.
 Applying fungicides for fungal infections .

26. Post Harvest Handling
Drying
 Drying takes 3 to 4 days depending on the weather.
Do not dry chilies on the ground. The fruits are dried above the ground usually
on a rack with free movement of air (jute perforated material on top of the drying
rack may be used).
 Do not dry directly in the sun/open to avoid rain damage and sunburn.
 Fruits should be shrivelled yet not brittle (moisture content of 7.5 to 8
percent)
Grading
 This can take place while drying to save time.
 The graded chili is moved to the lower shelf of the drying rack for two to
three days.
Packing and storage
 Use gunny bags or locally woven baskets for storage but not polyethylene.
 On-farm storage without adequate storage facilities is not encourage

27. Ghana
Tanzania
Rwanda

29. Rwanda “The land of a thousand hills”
economy is booming and is consistently
attracting investment together with prevailing
political stability in the country as well as
conducive investment climate.
Rwanda has a liberalized economy, a strong
natural resource base and a commitment to the
private sector by the government.
Rwanda

30. Rwandans farmers are now involved in initiatives to
promote high-value exports of cassava, coffee, geraniums,
and chilli peppers, a relatively new crop to Rwanda.
These initiatives have been supported by USAID and
SPREAD (Sustaining Partnerships to enhance Rural
Enterprise and Agribusiness Development), in partnership
with organisations such as Fairtrade, the National
University of Rwanda, the Agricultural Research Institute
of Rwanda and the Rwandan National Coffee Board.
High quality chillies were also identified by USAID, as
another potential export crop, particularly as the crop has
an established international market.
As chillies were found to grown well in Butare province
with natural lowland irrigation, the bird's eye chilli pepper
variety was chosen for its high value, and the availability
of labour for the extensive picking and sorting required.

31. Challenges of growing chilli
The challenges faced by the farmers include the following;
•Disease control
•Problem of meeting requirements to produce , process an export commercial
volumes.
•Farmers have little to grow chilli on
•Lack of finances to invest in the projects.
Agencies that assist investors
• The Rwanda Development Board
The Rwanda Development Board was set up by bringing together all the
government agencies responsible for the entire investor experience under one roof.
This includes key agencies responsible for business registration, investment
promotion, environmental clearances, privatization and specialist agencies which
support the priority sectors of ICT and tourism as well as SMEs and human
capacity development in the private sector

32. Rwanda Private Sector Federation (RPSF)
RPSF is a professional organization dedicated to promote and represent the interests of the
Rwandan business community.
Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency
Rwanda Investment Promotion Agency (RIEPA) was established in 1998 by an Act of
Parliament with the responsibility of promoting private investment in Rwanda by both local
and foreign investors.

33. MARKET SIZE
The current market area is fairly small not geographically but by customer
base. However, there is a day by day increase in the market size. For
instance, The National Agriculture Export (NAEB), have established
vegetables collection centres in many districts of the country in order to
collect vegetables production and sell them to the regional and
international market.
(National Agriculture Export Board, Annual report 2012).
089044 92875

34. About Akabanga Chili Oil
​Akabanga is a Rwandan-made hot chili oil. The
word “akabanga” means “little secret” in
Kinyarwanda, the country's official language. Used
on a wide varieties of dishes , this chili oil is great on
eggs, meat, fish, stews, salads and soups.
The oil is made of 80% extract of mix varieties of
African grown Scotch Bonnet peppers and 20% of
vegetable oil (sunflower or olive).
Akabanga can both be used as a condiment or as a
cooking ingredient. Its heat ranges largely over
150,000 Scoville Heat Units.

35. GHANA089044 92875

36. Ghana

37. Supply to European Markets and Competition
Ghana’s main competitors in the chili pepper export sector
to European market are Israel, Morocco, Turkey, and
Egypt. These countries have comparative advantages over
Ghana due to cheaper air transportation costs based on
their proximities to Europe.
Ghana only accounts for about 1 percent of the EU market
share. In Africa, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa are
Ghana’s main competitors. Ghana has a comparative
advantage over these African countries in terms of shorter
transport times and relatively inexpensive airfreight costs.
Moreover, Ghanaian chili peppers have been establishing a
strong reputation by their great quality and taste as well as
a longer shelf life.
DETAILED- URL

38. Specialty Chili Peppers
Although Ghana has been exporting chili peppers for over
fifteen years, significant growth in the production of chili
peppers for export is relatively recent phenomenon. The
growth in exports was prompted by the development of a
hybrid chili pepper, Legon 18, developed specifically for
Ghanaian soil by researchers at the University of Ghana-
Legon. In addition to being well-suited to Ghanaian soil and
climate conditions, Legon 18 is designed to maintain
freshness to enhance its exportability.
Bird’s Eye chili pepper production has also been increasing
in Ghana. Bird’s Eye pepper is widely produced in India,
Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Bird’s Eye chili has a very
high capsicum content, which are 100,000 to 225,000
Scoville Heat Units, and therefore yields a high market price
in export markets and experiences less price volatility. This
is partly due to its alternative industrial use in pepper spray.
Bird’s Eye chili grows in similar conditions to Legon 18;
thus Ghanaian climate and soils are suitable for its
production.

39. TANZANIA089044 92875

40. Tanzanian production of chillies amounted to over 7 thousand
tonnes in 2010/2011, indicating an ongoing growth of 30%
annually. Chilli can be produced in many parts of the country. Main
production regions are Arusha, Tanga, Coast, Zanzibar and
Morogoro.
Chilli production in Tanzania is dominated by smallholders who
produce organically by default, because they do not use chemical
fertilizers and pesticides. However, only a small share of them is
organically certified.
The chilli is produced under the Participatory Guarantee System
supported by the International Federation for Organic Agriculture
Movement (IFOAM) which gives room to consider products
organic if they were produced according to organic principles. The
products may be sold in the local and regional market as organic
with no necessity for being certified.

41. Chillies are a common product in Tanzania. It is used to flavour food and as
ingredient for masalas and sauces. Conventional chillies are sold in many
supermarkets and small shops and on Kariakoo market and similar markets
in Dar es Salaam and other cities and towns from where it is distributed to
the local and regional markets.
Non-certified organic chillies are sold to companies like Red Gold in
Arusha, Akili’s Born in Tanga, but are also found on Kariakoo and other
markets in Dar es Salaam and other cities and towns.
Competition on the local market mainly comes from Mombasa chilli, which
is sold at considerably lower prices. However, there are unconfirmed claims
alleging the Mombasa chilli to be adulterated and this gives local producers,
like Mcharo Organic Agriculture (T) ltd, a quality advantage.
Competition also comes from India, whose chilli paste is imported for use
by Red Gold. According to Mcharo Organic Agriculture (T) ltd, although
comparatively cheaper, this product is of poor quality and Red Gold is
slowly substituting it with locally sourced chilli.