Nairobi — Exports of avocado to China are starting to pay off, with the value of shipped commodities hitting Sh9 billion in the three months to May 2023.
The country exported 7 million kilograms of the commodity to the second-most populous country in the world after India.
A total of 78 licensed farms have been approved to export the commodity from January to date, with 58 being farms and 20 pack houses, according to the Kenya Plants Inspectorate Service (Kephis).
Kenya's target to export avocados to China paid off last year when it first shipped the product to the country after years of waiting.
Beijing requested that local avocados be refrigerated, not fresh ones.
China's over 1.4 billion people offer a big market opportunity for Kenyan avocados.
Data from the Horticulture Crops Directorate (HCD) shows that avocado exports rose from 66 million tonnes in 2018 to 86 million tonnes in 2021.
In 2022, the country's avocado export value was estimated at $15.15 billion, according to Statistics, an online analytic platform.
