Many
Kenyans eyeing the obviously lucrative agribusiness sector have their gaze
fixed on hass avocado farming. However, it looks like the real money is in the
avocado export business, no wonder there have mushroomed so many small export
companies of late.
On
Monday January 20th this year, Kenya’s popular journalist Larry
Madowo, who is now living in the USA, made a tweet that ignited debate and
provoked thoughts about what is more profitable between hass avocado farming
and hass avocado export business in Kenya.
"This
tiny avocado cost me $1.69. Isn’t this daylight robbery?" Larry tweeted,
of course wondering why he had to pay Ksh171 (equivalent of $1.69) for a small
avocado that he would have hesitated to pay Ksh20 for if he was here in Kenya.
 |
| The avocado that got Larry Madowo complaining |
If
you are surprised at the price in the USA, then you have a bigger shocker
awaiting you. In Germany, an unripe avocado costs approximately 5 Euros (more
than Ksh 500 at the current rate). Avocado prices in Europe are much higher than
in USA and most other parts of the world.
Let’s
keep in mind that the best paid avocado farmer in Kenya gets Ksh48 for his best
fruit (For avocado prices in Kenya in 2019 read “Sweet
Pay for Kenyan Avocado Farmers in 2020”). This scenario begs the
question “Is the significant difference in price due to the cost of transporting
these fruits to Europe and USA?” Of course not: while farmers in Kenya are
celebrating the improved prices, the people who are truly smiling to the bank
are the owners of the export companies.
But
why can’t the farmers export their own avocado to these markets and cut off the
middlemen? Well, that is not entirely impossible but given the small scale
nature of avocado farming in Kenya, individual farmers do not have the produce
quantities and the financial muscle to put in place the infrastructure required
to successfully export their fruits.
Yes,
the only way to address these weaknesses as farmers is nothing new… We have to
come together to form marketing bodies. This is an idea that has been floated
to farmers for the longest time; it has obviously been met with inactiveness,
perhaps because farmers don’t even know how to start.
How
about this – we join a common-interest Whatsapp group for avocado farmers in
Kenya. I think such a platform will give us an ample space to interact and
brainstorm on how we can bring our efforts together to aggregate our produce to
meet the required consistency and pull our resources together to meet the infrastructural
requirements that will enable us smoothly export direct to the market instead
of using middle men.
You
can join our hass avocado farmers’ common-interest group through this link https://chat.whatsapp.com/FR4WzgiWjXz1W9ZAQxmnPP
The
export market for Kenyan avocado is huge and growing. We painted a picture of
how it is in this article Demand
For Kenyan Avocado Continues to Climb: The Issue Right Now Is Providing a
Continuous Supply.
You
will also remember that in April 2019, the Kenyan government signed a trade
deal with the Chinese government allowing Kenyan avocado farmers to export
their fruits to China. While there are tough regulations in that deal, the
Kenyan government is negotiating to have them removed and the negotiations are
actually starting to bear fruits: see Avocado
Farming in Kenya Gets a Boost as China Slashes Duty on Kenya Avocadoes.
Projections
indicate that when this China deal becomes fully operational, without excessively
limiting small scale farmers with tough regulations, the Chinese market alone will
be able to absorb 40% of Kenya's total avocado produce.
The
future looks bright for avocado farmers in Kenya. It’s obviously the ripe time
to invest in this project as we make efforts towards bringing farmers together
to enable them access the international market directly. We, at Richfarm Kenya would
love to help you in establishing your hass avocado orchard. You can reach us
easily through 0724698357 or through the other channels given in our Contact Us
page. Don’t forget to go to the Farmer’s Resources page to get a copy of this
Hass avocado farming guide (PDF).
2 comments:
Clear, coherent and useful information. Premature harvesting is a real threat and its unfortunate there is no legislation hitherto. In 2020, there was some control on "harvest commencement" dates unlike this year. I hope we revert to the control going forward.
This year, there was the same control too. But indeed, proper laws to control this should be put in place
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