{"id":2000121357,"date":"2026-08-03T14:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121357"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:45:30","slug":"ngoma-new-tomato-processing-plant-to-handle-10-tonnes-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/ngoma-new-tomato-processing-plant-to-handle-10-tonnes-daily\/","title":{"rendered":"Ngoma: New tomato processing plant to handle 10 tonnes daily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The facility, named Ngoma Tomato Processing Plant, was established by Afrinet Solutions Group and is expected to address one of the biggest challenges facing tomato farmers: the lack of a reliable market, which has often resulted in large quantities of produce going to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plant is expected to begin operations in the coming months after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. It is currently undergoing final testing to ensure its processing systems are fully operational before commercial production begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once operational, the factory will process 10 tonnes of fresh tomatoes every day, producing approximately one tonne of tomato paste. The paste will be used in the manufacture of a range of products, including tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato juice and other tomato-based products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents living near the facility welcomed the investment, saying it will provide farmers with a dependable market for their harvests and help prevent tomatoes from spoiling due to limited demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the farmers, Hakizimana Elias, said producers previously had no choice but to transport their tomatoes to Kigali, where buyers often purchased only small quantities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our harvests were good, but we struggled to find buyers. We had to take our tomatoes to Kigali, where only small amounts were bought. With this factory now in our area, our produce will finally have value. We have repeatedly raised concerns during community meetings about our harvests going to waste because there was no reliable market,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another farmer and investor, Kamana Nicole, said the factory gives greater value to her investment in tomato farming by guaranteeing a ready market for the crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are constantly encouraged to invest in activities that contribute to the country’s development. That is why I invested in tomato farming after returning from abroad. I believe this venture will improve my livelihood while also contributing to Rwanda’s economic growth,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Finance recently toured the plant and praised the progress made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, they urged its management to learn from the challenges that affected similar processing factories in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee’s chairperson, Fulgence Nsengiyumva, said farmers told the committee that although production had increased, they frequently failed to find buyers, leaving much of their harvest to rot in the fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalled that Sorwatom, a tomato processing factory, initially purchased tomatoes directly from local farmers before later switching to buying tomato paste from other suppliers. It eventually abandoned that approach as well and instead began importing packaged tomato sauce for sale on the Rwandan market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsengiyumva emphasized that the new factory should avoid repeating that experience by maintaining direct purchases from local farmers, noting that providing a sustainable market for their produce is the plant’s primary purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, the factory has signed supply agreements with farmers from 24 cooperatives across the seven districts of Eastern Province, two large farming groups and about 30 individual farmers, bringing the total number of contracted suppliers to around 1,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility is also expected to create more than 50 permanent jobs once it becomes fully operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Eastern Province’s first tomato processing plant has been completed in Ngoma, with capacity to process 10 tonnes daily. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new tomato processing plant with the capacity to process 10 tonnes of tomatoes per day has been completed in Ngoma District, a development expected to provide a stable market for farmers while reducing post-harvest losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000121361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[69],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-62","tag-homehighlights","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121361,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":420,"height":265,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","width":420,"height":265},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","width":420,"height":265},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","width":420,"height":265},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","width":420,"height":265},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/e2392f705f9da8651cb514d20b1660.jpg","width":420,"height":265}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121357"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121368,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121357\/revisions\/2000121368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121357"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121357"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}