Reaping the benefits of Kenya's green gold: Ensuring quality certification has led to a boom in Kenya's avocado industry, creating jobs and raising incomes.

AuthorHetland, Jarle
PositionSPECIAL REPORT - Editorial

Touted as a superfood and loved by hipsters from Tokyo to San Francisco, the humble avocado has in recent years become one of the world's favourite foods. For farmers in rural Kenya and in the country's export sector this 'green gold' has helped boost incomes and job creation.

In fact, Kenya overtook South Africa as the biggest African exporter of avocadoes, export data for 2017 showed. It exported 51,507 tons of avocadoes that year worth an estimated $78 million, according to the International Trade Centre's (ITC) TradeMap. Another victory for Kenyan farmers was South Africa's decision to lift its import ban on their avocados.

The hype around superfood and hipsters aside, the secret behind Kenya's avocado success can be summed up on one word: quality.

To tap into foreign markets - especially lucrative ones such as major European supermarket chains - avocados need to be formally certified for quality. The most prevalent certification for the European market is GLOBALG.A.P., a private standard which sets out requirements for farming processes and food safety. Complying - and proving compliance - costs money and is time consuming. Doing so, however, can lead to a sea change for growers and exporters.

To help Kenyan farmers and companies tap into the global avocado value chain, ITC has worked with actors along the value chain. This included providing training on harvesting techniques (including health and safety issues) and altering business models. For example, this meant cutting off brokers, thereby giving farmers and exporters more control over their produce and greater ownership of the avocado value chain.

JOB CREATION

'What this project has realized is tangible,' said John Mwaniki Gitau, chairman of the Gaichanjiru Avocado Farmers Cooperative in Muranga county 'The volumes of avocadoes reaching markets - especially the European Union, have gone up, meaning higher incomes. As a community we have gained a lot from participating in the ITC project. Our farmers are very happy, we are creating employment for our young people and we have increased membership in the cooperative to 50.'

Indeed, the sector appears to be growing by leaps and bounds. From 2014, when ITC started the Netherlands Trust Fund III (NTF III) project for the Kenyan avocado sector, until 2016, exports for participating companies doubled from 6,143 tons per year to 12,141 tons. In addition to practical and theoretical training towards achieving GLOBALG.A.P. certification...

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