A struggle for take-off: farmers’ perspectives on Rwanda's mushroom industry

Abstract Mushroom cultivation represents an auspicious avenue to address poverty and food insecurity in land-scarce countries like Rwanda. However, nearly two decades after it was introduced in Rwanda’s agricultural system, little is known about the farm-level practices, benefits, as well as the challenges facing the mushroom industry in Rwanda. Understanding these aspects is yet paramount to mark progress and identify future policy objectives. This study addresses the knowledge gap by examining farm-level practices, assessing the perceived benefits and challenges; and exploring how Rwanda’s mushroom value chain is organised, based on the integrated value chain (VC), new institutional economics (NIE) and structure-conduct-performance (SCP) framework. We conducted non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews with mushroom farmers and official representatives nationwide; and performed content analysis using MaxQDA 24.3.0 to analyse the data. Our findings reveal an industry dominated by uncoordinated smallholder farmers, influenced by government-linked actors. Using locally available crop residues, imported cotton husks, and the seedling spawn sourced from a single government-recognised agency, farmers produce oyster mushrooms which they sell fresh to consumers and traders in major markets in Kigali, using commercial public buses as the main mode of delivery. In addition to the perceived role of addressing malnutrition, mushroom farming provides meaningful employment, rapid incomes and is a reliable source of livelihood. The major challenges include the absence of post-harvest handling technologies, limited farmers’ knowledge, lack of spawn, and limited consumer awareness. These findings suggest that value chain development efforts should focus on improving farmers' knowledge, raising consumer awareness, diversifying quality spawn sources, and supporting farmers with the necessary equipment.