Kenya Targets US, Japan for Avocado Market

Kenya is negotiating market access for avocados with the United States of America, South Korea, Japan, India, and Mauritius.

These markets will be in addition to those in the Middle East and Europe, which are currently Kenya’s main export markets.

Theophilus Mutui, managing director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), stated that the countries had exchanged lists of concerns they want Kenya to address before the fruits are shipped out.

“We are studying the conditions shared by the countries and will revert back… Some of the issues the new markets are interested in include the presence of pests, whether the farms are fumigated and emerging diseases,” said Prof. Mutui in a phone interview.

The UAE, he claimed, has the fewest regulations and is the easiest to export from. Top ten manufacturers Kenya is one of the top ten producers of avocados in the world, and due to the high prices the fruit is fetching both domestically and abroad, growers there have recently expanded their operations to include avocado production. Non-traditional counties, like Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, and Uasin Gishu, have recently embraced the crop.

These requirements from importing nations must be met by small-scale avocado growers.

According to George Momanyi, a phytosanitary officer at Kephis, the demand for avocados has grown recently on the international market, which has led importing nations to seek pest-infested-free produce into their markets.

“However, exports to Europe have not been subjected to strict conditions like it is happening in other emerging markets like China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa and India,” said Momanyi.