YAK Fair Trade

Seventy-five percent of Rwanda’s labour force is concentrated in agriculture. Most of the people engaged in this activity are small-scale farmers, who face a number of difficulties that prevent them from increasing their income and improving their living conditions.

The lack of drying spaces or facilities for the grain they harvest means that the harvest is exposed to adverse weather conditions such as rain, which increases the level of humidity in the grain, affecting its quality and making it difficult to market.

Moreover, finding markets to sell the crops is complicated for these farmers. If poor quality grain is added to this difficulty, the chances of them being able to sell their production are significantly reduced.

YAK Fair Trade focuses on the development of the agri-food production chain in Rwanda, specialising in the post-harvest phase of commodities, including the processing and wholesale distribution of grains such as maize and wheat and a wide variety of pulses, dairy and meat products.

More than 60% of the products marketed by YAK come from smallholder farmers who see their livelihoods and those of their families improve.