Ruhango District,
Kinazi Road

+250 724 797 703

Achievements & Background

Achievements

High quality product

KCP Ltd produces cassava flour of the highest quality on international standards. Its uniqueness makes it an industry leader in the region and beyond. Market KCP Ltd currently serves both the local and export market. More than half of the yearly production is exported to Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.

hence increasing foreign exchange earnings. Improving farmers’ Income and livelihoods KCP Ltd empowers farmers by buying their produce (fresh cassava roots produced by farmers) at a price higher than what the market offers. Before the existence of KCP Ltd, the farmers had nowhere to sell their harvests at a modest price. Close to 2,000 farmers work directly and indirectly, through cooperatives with KCP Ltd. 

Thanks to contracts between KCP Ltd and Cooperatives/Farmers, the latter can easily obtain loans and other services from banks and other financial services including insurance products. KCP Ltd is actively involved in linking multipliers of cassava seeds with farmers in different provinces. Those called multipliers earn a lot more by selling cassava cuttings.

Provision of employment

To date the company employs a big number of permanent employees. Their employment with KCP Ltd comes with income and other benefits financially empowering them and their families. More than 300 people are employed by the company as casual workers. 90% of them are close neighbours of the Plant, making easy for the Plant to make a significant impact around its surroundings.

Rural development

Since the establishment of the factory, water and electricity were also extended to nearby local villages. The villages have also benefited from the roads which were repaired and hence easing transportation of people and goods. Due to the above-mentioned development, the value of the infrastructure in the area appreciated thus increasing villager’s income since some of the houses are being rented by factory employees

Background History

Incorporation

Kinazi Cassava Plant Limited (KCP Ltd) is a cassava processing company located in Ruhango District, Southern Province of Rwanda. KCP Ltd was conceived and funded by the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and Rwanda Development Bank (BRD Plc). 

The company is duly incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Rwanda and is registered with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The Plant was officially commissioned on April 16th, 2012 and its first sales were recording in June 2012. KCP Ltd was established to provide an avenue for cassava crop value addition and boost the economic activity of the Southern Province. Communities surrounding the Plant were encouraged and funded, through BRD Plc, to grow cassava on large scale to meet the Plant’s high demand for fresh cassava roots. The Plant has a daily production capacity of 30 Tons of cassava flour with an estimated need of 100 Tons of fresh cassava roots.

Post Inauguration

In 2014, there was an outbreak of farm Cassava Brown Streak disease (CBSD) locally known as Kabore which destroyed all cassava plantations mainly in the Southern Province, causing a crisis in the supply of raw materials to the Plant. The company was forced to outsource, at a high cost, fresh cassava roots from neighbouring countries, mainly Tanzania. 

The CBS Disease’ impact on the company operations lasted for a minimum of 4 years despite the disease affecting a single agriculture season. Late 2014 and early 2015, a new crop variety (NASE 14) was distributed to farmers by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB). Following this Government intervention, the Plant has no longer faced challenges of raw materials shortage since 2018.

Low utilisation capacity

The average capacity utilization in 2012 was 11%, 7% in 2013, 19% in 2014, 12% in 2015 and 10% in 2016, 14% in 2017, 25% in 2018, 25% in 2019 and 35% in 2020. This was due to several reasons including but not limited to low farm productivity, the disease that affected cassava plantations and a lack of ready market