Demand for mushrooms is booming in Africa. Mushroom farming is low-cost and sustainable - and mushrooms are seen as a nutritious meat alternative. We visit a farm in Rwanda.
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00:00 In the dark, humid interior of these huts, Semagambo Evariste is cultivating a crop that
00:07 could help improve food security in Rwanda - oyster mushrooms.
00:12 "I have been cultivating mushrooms for five years.
00:24 Their rapid growth sets them apart from other crops.
00:27 Between nine and fifteen days after cultivation, the mushrooms are ready for sale.
00:33 With other crops, you often have to wait five to six months before they can be harvested.
00:39 But with mushrooms, they are generating revenue within just two weeks.
00:43 They have many advantages over other crops."
00:55 Semagambo Evariste grows his mushrooms in Rugarama village, one of 15 villages supported
01:01 by Kigali Farms.
01:03 It's trained around 700 smallholder farmers and had the huts specially built, which the
01:08 farmers use for free.
01:10 It also provides them with production and commercialisation assistance.
01:15 The social enterprise was set up by Laurent de Moinck in 2010.
01:20 Previously, he ran a micro-brewery in New York.
01:24 But he wanted to move to Africa to do something sustainable with a community impact.
01:29 And then inspiration hit.
01:32 "A book called Mycelium Running, how mushrooms can help save the world.
01:38 And I thought, yeah, that's too much.
01:41 How can mushrooms save the world?
01:43 But I started reading the book and I was very quickly convinced that mushrooms are these
01:46 incredible organisms that can do a lot of good things if you use them in the right way.
01:52 They can be good for people's health, they're very healthy to eat, they're very nutritious.
01:57 They can be very good for the environment because they have a tendency to recycle organic
02:01 matter into something useful."
02:05 The agronomic conditions in Rwanda are ideal for the cultivation of several varieties of
02:11 mushrooms.
02:12 And the crop is an ideal solution to one of the problems the country faces - its growing
02:17 population, which currently numbers around 14 million, and the limited availability of
02:23 arable land, which encompasses some 1.4 million hectares.
02:27 "This indicates that our current land resources may not adequately ensure food security for
02:32 all citizens in the future.
02:34 However, we shall still seek viable solutions.
02:37 Mushrooms play a significant role in the circular bio-economy.
02:40 It solves the issue of negative effects of crop residues in the long term."
02:46 That's because it's used as a substrate for the mushrooms.
02:49 Kigali Farms provides support to local wheat farmers when they harvest, and then buys their
02:53 wheat straw, which is then fermented into substrate.
02:57 The farmers used to burn their crop residue, contributing to air pollution.
03:01 "The countryside is where you find more agricultural waste that can be converted into mushrooms.
03:07 So we started with that, and then five, six years into it, we started with button mushrooms.
03:11 Now button mushrooms worldwide is the number one commercial mushroom everywhere.
03:17 It's 90% of the cultivated mushroom around the world, but it was zero in Rwanda, and
03:23 it's very, very low in Africa."
03:26 Requiring minimal input in terms of costs, land and labour, mushroom farming is benefiting
03:31 local communities here in Rwanda, as well as helping decrease emissions and improve
03:37 soil quality.
03:38 "My passion for mushroom farming stems from the many benefits it's given me.
03:47 The growing cycle takes around three months, but even once it's finished, mushroom substrates
03:52 retain residual value.
03:55 We can use it as high-quality manure, which is ideal for various crops, especially vegetables,
04:02 so the harvest is good.
04:06 This manure, it's much better than other fertilisers, which degrade the soil quality."
04:16 What's more, mushrooms are increasingly seen as an affordable and healthy food, and a much
04:21 more environmentally friendly source of protein than meat.
04:26 "Instead of having your hamburger with beef in it, you can have a vegetarian burger with
04:33 the mushroom in it.
04:35 It's just as delicious, much healthier for you, and much healthier for the planet."
04:41 Mushroom farming fits well with the Rwandan government's plans to make agriculture climate-smart.
04:46 "We aim to integrate climate-smart agriculture into our agricultural policy.
04:56 We will promote sustainable and environmentally friendly farming methods.
05:01 We aim to support all forms of agricultural farming that generate organic fertilisers.
05:06 This approach not only aids in combating the impacts of climate change, but also diversifies
05:11 our reliance beyond mushrooms."
05:18 With its many benefits for the environment, mushroom farming is helping Rwanda meet its
05:23 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40% by the end of the decade.
05:29 (upbeat music)