Kenya has hit a record high of 1.7 million kilos of avocado exported to the Chinese market in the last three months. This means that the horticultural sector continues to post impressive growth despite many challenges. Benjamin Tito, director of the Horticulture Crops Directorate under the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development says the country managed to export this amount of avocados to China after the revision of the initial protocol signed in 2018 which only allowed frozen avocados to the Asian market.
According to Tito, revising the protocol early this year is a game changer for Kenya: “Last year, we exported only 24,000 kg of fresh avocado, and this year we exported 1.7 million kilos.” Currently, Kenya has only 15 certified exporters supplying avocado to the Chinese market following a series of audits that were done jointly by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) and representatives from China.
Kenya started exporting avocados to China in August and has since received a good reception, beating giants like Mexico and Peru, because of its high-quality avocado.
Source: standardmedia.co.ke