To assist farmers in eliminating their crop losses, the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) is constructing five new drying centers for onions and chili throughout the country.
According to a June 2025 report, approximately 30 percent of all agricultural products grow in the fields only to essentially be "lost" because farmers lack appropriate facilities to dry or store their crops.
The new buildings are located in Rubavu, Rulindo, Bugesera, Nyagatare, and Kigali. They use technology that can dry 199 tons of produce in just 48 hours.
The objective of each of the five new drying centers is to cut waste in half from one harvesting to another, as follows:
Onions: Waste will drop from 15.4% down to 7.7%.
Chili: Waste will drop from 17.2% down to 8.7%.
In the past, many of the cooling rooms throughout the country were inoperable; NAEB felt it would be better to place a larger emphasis on the new drying centers rather than continue to focus on repairing the complaints about the cooling rooms.
This way farmers will have the best opportunity to sell their goods in the market and thereby not experience a loss of the fruit of their labour.
Additionally, as improvements are made to the quality of crops through proper drying, the ease of exportation out of Rwanda will also improve and provide farmers with many more crops that they can sell for an income.
As Rwanda grows its agriculture sector, these new buildings are a big step in helping young farmers succeed and reach international markets.