Kenya’s fresh produce exporters on Tuesday launched a massive campaign aimed at exporting the east African country’s horticulture products to more non-traditional markets, an official said on Tuesday.
Hosea Machuki, Chief Executive Officer of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), said that the East African nation is now focusing on selling the produce to the Middle East, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
“The diversification from the traditional markets has been necessitated by the demand of horticulture, vegetables and fruits in other parts of the world,” Machuki told a press conference.
He said that Kenya has started production of vegetables and fruits that have higher standards, increasing variety and by shipping direct to the major supermarket chains.
Machuki disclosed that Kenya is now set to consolidate its international markets.
“We have spent the last five years developing systems to ensure that the challenges of excess pesticides and the presence of quarantine pests does not haunt the industry again,” he said.
Machuki revealed that Kenya earned about 1 billion U.S. dollars last year from the fruit, vegetable and spices sub sector and plans on increasing the earnings this year.
He said that a recent survey by FPEAK revealed that production increased to 7.6 million tonnes annually from 589,939 hectares that earned the country 1.3 billion dollars.
Source: coastweek.com