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: 22 November 2018; Hits: 6233

Kenya overtakes India in key black tea global markets

Black tea farming in Kenya. Photo courtesy.

Kenya has surpassed India in the world key black tea markets which include Europe, Pakistan and Egypt in the second half of this year. This is after Indian tea failed to maintain the 10 per cent higher prices the country had in the first half of 2018, in the world markets.

Industry executives feel that it will be difficult to cross last year’s export of 240.68 million kg this year because of Kenya’s stronghold in global markets.

“Kenyan crop is expected to be around 480-490 million kg this year against 430 million kg last year. There had been good rains in the African nation resulting in higher crop from July. This has given them the advantage of offering more tea to the black tea drinking nations,” said Azam Monem, director McLeod Russel India.

The Economic Times reported that Indian tea production in the first nine months of 2018 stands at 941.18 million kilos which is almost at par with last year’s production for the same period.

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According to the reports Monem said exports may fall flat this year on two grounds which are high production in Kenya and a temporary uncertainty created in the market after US imposed sanctions on Iran, a major orthodox tea market.

Stats by the Tea Board of India till September this year shows that India has exported 173.80 million kilos which is almost similar to what the country had exported in the first nine months of 2017.

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: 22 November 2018; Hits: 7706

Company set to launch platform to connect banana, mango, passion, yellow beans, green grams and cow pea’s farmers to markets

Wanda Agriculture Ltd, a company that was started seven years ago and has been involved in the organic fertilizer business is set to launch a platform in February 2019 to connect at least 3,000 farmers to markets.

“So far we have connected 20,020 farmers to farm inputs but I have realized that the biggest challenge facing farmers is marketing of their produce, we are thus coming up with this platform called Wanda Soko in a bid to complete the whole value chain from production to marketing,” said Marion Moon, the founder and Managing Director of the company.

The process will involve identifying marketing agents/ farm consultants who will then form organized farmer groups to aggregate and market fruits and pulses.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, farmers can triple income by joining organized marketing systems that play an important role in supporting small agricultural producers and marginalized groups such as young people and women.

Cooperatives empower their members economically and socially and create sustainable rural employment through business models that are resilient to economic and environmental shocks.

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marion moon

Marion Moon, founder and Managing Director, Wanda Agriculture.

“This platform will help farmers have a more predictable return on investment on their investment through a more structured value chain process,” said Moon.

The company will contract farmers to plant only half of their available land so as to encourage diversification of crops.

If a farmer has four acres of land for example, the company will ask the farmers to plant fruits/pulses on two acres leaving the rest for other purposes such as dairy farming.

Moon says this will help farmers reduce on post-harvest losses which is a big challenge facing farmers in Kenya.

Since 2011, Wanda Agriculture has been helping farmers through access of organic fertilizer that complements inorganic fertilizer such as NPK and DAP.

The company sells a 50kg bag of organic fertilizer at Sh3,300. This type of fertilizer improves the soil structure and increases its ability to hold water and nutrients. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic fertilizer also increases species biodiversity by 30 per cent compared with synthetic fertilizer.

Wanda Agriculture, however, would like to improve farmers’ profitability through reliable market access besides linking farmers to inputs.

In 2017 for instance, Kenyan farmers lost 1.9m tonnes of food as they struggled to find markets according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Of the total food wasted, maize, Kenya’s staple food was the most affected with the country losing Sh29.6bn worth of the crop yet it imported another bunch worth Sh42bn.

Green bananas were the second most affected crop as farmers lost Sh24bn worth of the produce.

Other produce that went to waste due to poor storage and handling, transport, and fungi attack, according to data contained in the 2018 Economic Survey released in April, includes Irish potatoes (Sh19.7bn), milk (Sh12.4bn), beans (Sh11.5bn), ripe yellow bananas (Sh5.6bn).

“The impact therefore will be to create a more sustainable value chain which will enable farmers have steady and consistent income as they focus on the effects of climate change,” said Moon.

The company can be reached on 020 43 43 600.

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: 22 November 2018; Hits: 12853

Fresh Produce exporter contracting farmers to supply Hass and Fuerte avocado varieties

A fresh produce company Saipei Foods is looking for farmers across Kenya to supply them with Hass and Fuerte avocado varieties at a time when the demand for the crop is at an all-time high in the international market.

The company buys a package of four kilogram Hass avocado variety at Sh250 to Sh300 while Fuerte variety costs Sh150 to Sh180.

“The minimum amount a farmer can supply us is at least one probox car full of avocados containing at least 5,000 pieces of the fruits,” said Lucy Njeri, the founder of Saipei Foods.

Once the produce is bought it is sorted and graded according to size and variety and the supplier is paid after 12 to 24 hours.

According to the World Fruit Map, avocado trade in the international market has grown at a rate of 12 per cent per annum over the last ten years with the production growing by five per cent hence the deficit.

In Kenya, the major producing areas are Murang’a, Meru, Kiambu, Kisii, Nyeri and the Mt. Kenya region where the crop is grown for the local and export market.

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hass and fuerte avocado ban

Hass avocado variety.

Currently, a 90kg bag of avocados is retailing highest in Malindi at Sh6,000 and lowest in Kisumu at Sh1,400. In Nairobi it retails at Sh2,000, Mombasa, Nakuru and Eldoret all have the same price at Sh1,800.

Hass variety accounts for approximately 80 per cent of all avocados consumed in the world and is liked by consumers due to its nutty flavor and rich butter. The variety is grown in Kenya and South Africa in Africa.

Kenya exports avocados to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and more recently, the Russian Federation besides the European Union.

The UAE tops the list with some 12, 041 tons for the 2017 timeline.

Saudi Arabia is the country’s fourth importer with some 4, 874 tons worth of imports in 2017. The Russian Federation currently holds the 5th position in trade volumes that have culminated at 4,171 tons in 2017.

The second, third, and sixth major export markets for Kenya avocados are all in Europe. The Netherlands leads the pack with 10, 556 tons of the fruit from the 2017 statistics. France is the third biggest importer: its net volume stood at 10, 423 tons in the same year. The United Kingdom and Spain close the top seven with volumes that verged on 2,944 and 1,734 tons respectively in 2017.

Saipei Foods can be reached on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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