Export of fresh avocados from Kenya to China officially commenced Tuesday with the flagging off of first consignment from Nairobi taking place.
The move comes after Beijing opened its doors to fresh fruits from Kenya having cleared 15 firms to hit the vast Chinese market after a tour of their facilities gave them a clean bill of health.
The consignment released Tuesday in a ceremony attended by top government officials from Kenya and China as well as top industry players and farmers, is expected in the Chinese market in the next three weeks.
Sunripe Vertical Agro, the producers, and exporters of fresh and frozen agricultural products has lauded the breakthrough to get the fruits to China.
“What we have achieved as the business community, the government, and the private sector, is unbelievable. China has big cities, the tier-one cities and the populations are phenomenal and that is where our avocados are going to go. In each city there are five to eleven markets,” said Hasit Shah (Tiku), the firm’s Managing Director
Tiku thanked his counterpart in Greechain Limited Gary Du whom he acknowledged for coming on board and assisted the Kenyan exporters to ship the first frozen avocados to China in 2019.
He attributed the successful shipment to China to compliance achieved by Kenya courtesy of the strong support from Kenya and Chinese governments.
Indeed, Du said inspection, combined with investment in advanced cold chain technology, had paved way for the export of Kenya’s fresh avocado to China.
The two companies, Sunripe and Greechain, have signed a pact to facilitate the entry of Kenya’s fresh avocados to China.
Speaking during the flagging off, Grace Muthoni Karanja, a farmer and a team leader of a women-led farm, disclosed that Kenyan farmers were very excited to have the opportunity to have a partnership with China ‘because it gives us hope as farmers.’
She said, the Kenyan farmers previously failed to enter the Chinese market because of producing wrong avocado produce out of inappropriate seedlings purchased from uncertified nurseries. She said this had forced farmers to incur so many losses.
“How are we getting to markets? Not everybody can afford to go to China but yet you can get to China if we are organized as farmers. When you sell through an organized organization like Sunripe then you get value on investment,” she said
“We are very happy that China market has opened up, because that means that it is going us hope that this is the right industry,” she added
Zhang Yijun, Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya described the journey of Kenya’s fresh avocado to China as a journey of cooperation.
He lauded the fact that it only took half a year since the protocol was signed to have more Kenyan products entering China.
He expressed satisfaction from the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi, which has been facilitating the processes involved, over the 15 firms have been cleared to do the exports and expressed optimism that more avocado growers will join in and increase exports of Kenya’s agri-products.
“Kenya is the Sixth largest producer in the world and the first in Africa. China’s demand for avocados is still increasing. Kenya’s main season can make up for the off-season of other countries in South America. Thus Kenya’s avocado will meet the demand. China welcomes more and more good quality Hass avocados,” he said
According to Zhang, Kenya and China enjoy great friendship. He said Kenya becoming the first African country to export fresh avocados to China is a good way of deepening that friendship ‘and we believe this will create more jobs and benefit more Kenyan farmers.’
His views resonated well with those of David Osiany, Kenya’s Chief Administrative Secretary for the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development who noted that by exporting fresh avocados to China, Kenya’s foreign exchange earnings were set to go higher and boost the country’s economy as a result.
“The export of fresh avocados to China is a monumental feat that will boost our economy and benefit key players across the avocado value chain including farmers,” said Osiany.
And in a bid to increase exports to the Asian country, farmers and exporters are calling on the two governments to further review the import duty rating on avocadoes originating from Kenya in order to improve their chances of competition with countries such as Peru, which is the largest avocado exporter to China.
The Chinese market opened up at a time Kenya has been depending on shipments of the fruit primarily to countries like Egypt and South Africa.
Before a trade embargo was placed on Russia, Kremlin was Kenya’s largest importer of furte avocado variety.
Since March this year, Kenya has so far exported 44 million kilos of avocado worth Ksh.6 billion with earnings expected to increase due to shipments to China and progress in export talks to India and Pakistan.
