Kenya is the top avocado exporter in Africa and it ranks among world’s fastest growing exporters of avocado even as producers as demand for the fruit grows in China and Europe.
Colombia comes top on the list of world’s fastest avocado exporters, followed by Morocco then Kenya at position three.
A 2019 half year survey shared at the ongoing World Avocado Congress in Colombia on Tuesday, indicated that Kenya has overtaken South Africa in the production of the crop.
Earlier this year, Kenya and China signed a trade pact that gave nod to the African nation to export avocado to the Asian country.
A survey undertaken in 2018 puts Colombia, Morocco, Kenya and Germany as the fastest growing exporters of the fruit. United Kingdom, Europe and Asia are the biggest markets for avocado. Kenya is also placed seventh in the list of leading exporters of avocado in 2018.
The list is dominated by Spanish speaking countries, with Mexico raking $2.4 billion, Netherlands ($ 733.8 billion), Peru ($ 722.8m) in third, Spain ($ 346 m), Chile ($ 323.2 m), the USA ($ 179 m) as before Kenya seals off the top seven having got $ 118 million (Sh11.8 billion).
According to information from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the country earned Sh6.5 billion and Sh5.2 billion in 2016 and 2015 from avocado exports.
Kenyan delegates are attending the 2019 World Avocado Congress in Medellin, Colombia, as the country focuses on bidding to host the global event in 2023. Murang
