{"id":56471,"date":"2025-11-07T09:52:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T09:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/?p=56471"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:11:08","slug":"minagri-commends-ikirezi-for-reviving-rwandas-essential-oil-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/2025\/11\/07\/minagri-commends-ikirezi-for-reviving-rwandas-essential-oil-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"MINAGRI Commends Ikirezi for Reviving Rwanda\u2019s Essential Oil Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, has praised Ikirezi Natural Products for its pivotal role in reviving the essential oil industry, a sector that once thrived during the colonial era but later disappeared, and for its contribution to sustainable development in Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister made the remarks on November 6, 2025, during a ceremony held in Kigali to celebrate Ikirezi\u2019s 20th anniversary. The event brought together government officials, company staff, partners, suppliers, and farmers. It was preceded by a thanksgiving service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2005, Ikirezi Natural Products is a social enterprise that produces high-quality essential oils and natural plant products in partnership with rural farmers in Kirehe and Rutsiro Districts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe story of essential oils in Rwanda mirrors our nation\u2019s journey from disruption to renewal,\u201d said Minister Bagabe. \u201cWhen the industry collapsed in the 1960s, few imagined it would ever return. Yet Ikirezi\u2019s founding in 2005 revived this forgotten sector, putting Rwanda back on the global map.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe success of this enterprise exemplifies Made in Rwanda<\/em>, green growth, and inclusive business. From humble beginnings, Ikirezi has laid the foundation for Rwanda\u2019s essential oil industry. Because of your example, many others have joined the sector as exporters\u2014and indeed, as you mentioned, it now generates millions of dollars for our country\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister also commended Ikirezi for promoting regenerative agriculture, demonstrating that biodiversity and business can thrive together. He reaffirmed the Government of Rwanda\u2019s commitment to supporting enterprises that balance profit, people, and the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In terms of social impact, over 15,000 farmers\u201470% of them women\u2014have benefited from Ikirezi\u2019s initiatives. Through training and job opportunities, they have earned sustainable incomes, educated their children, and improved their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representatives from Ikirezi\u2019s international partners also shared messages of appreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been privileged to work alongside Dr. Hitimana,\u201d said Kissel Farm manager, from the USA. He has shown us that when hope is planted in the rich soil of community, it can bloom a thousandfold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative of a team from Scotland and the UK added: \u201cIt\u2019s been a joy to witness what has been accomplished here. Over 20 years, we\u2019ve seen hard work, faith, and perseverance, through highs and lows, always guided by God\u2019s strength. May this journey continue for many more years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Nicolas Hitimana, Managing Director of Ikirezi, expressed deep gratitude to everyone who contributed to the company\u2019s success\u2013farmers, employees (past and present), board members, government officials, consumers, and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone here has a story connected to Ikirezi,\u201d he said. \u201cThis celebration is not about me, it\u2019s about all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also thanked the Government of Rwanda for creating a conducive environment that enables entrepreneurs to contribute meaningfully to national development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo matter how good your plans are, without the right environment, you go nowhere. What\u2019s unique in Rwanda is that the government truly supports entrepreneurs who want to help build the country,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Dr. Hitimana said Ikirezi plans to add more value to its products and adopt a circular production model that maximizes every resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Nicolas Hitimana, Managing Director of Ikirezi<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to add value to our oils and use every part of the plants. For instance, we use tagetes<\/em>, once considered a useless weed, and we\u2019re exploring other forgotten plants\u2014like eucalyptus leaves, which used to be discarded but now produce valuable oil. I don\u2019t have the exact figures, but I can tell you eucalyptus oil alone brings millions of dollars into the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Bagabe highlighted that Ikirezi\u2019s two decades of experience illustrate how resilience, innovation, and partnerships can drive sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasized that what the organization is doing is well aligned with the national priorities in terms of agricultural transformation strategy, export diversification, green growth, resilience strategy, vision 2050, and national strategy for transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essential oil products from Ikirezi include eucalyptus oil, organic geranium oil, organic lemongrass oil, Patchouli oil, organic rosemary oil and Tagetes oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thanksgiving service was part of the celebrations of Ikirezi 20th anniversary<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, has praised Ikirezi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":56472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-resources-and-agriculture"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56471"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56487,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56471\/revisions\/56487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topafricanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}