Already the biggest African avo-exporter, well ahead of South Africa, Kenya has been expanding its sales to Europe and is trying to push into the mass markets of India and China. “We are number five [in the world] in avocado exports and can easily get to number one,” says Simon Chelugui, Kenya’s minister for co-operatives. According to the latest estimate of the un’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao), Kenya reached number three in exports last year. It is still far behind Mexico, the unchallenged giant, and Peru, the runner-up. But the volume of Kenya’s exports shot up last year by 24%, the steepest climb of any big producer. Mr Chelugui warns that Kenya will rise in the global stakes “only if we maintain global standards relating to crop husbandry, traceability and sustainability, as every fruit exported carries Kenya’s reputation.” Kenya has been accused of sometimes shoving unripe avocados onto the market. Last year the country’s agriculture authority briefly banned exports because some farmers, especially smallholders lacking the technology to keep stored pears at the right temperature or keep their trees correctly watered, were selling immature ones with tastelessly tough flesh to exporters.
THE ECONOMIST
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