Kenya began exporting avocado fruit to India last month, and the first shipment has already arrived.
“The first shipment has arrived at Mumbai. We assure that many many more metric tonnes of avocados will land”, Kenya’s Deputy High Commissioner to India, Irene Oloo, told PTI on the sidelines of the ceremony.
This is the African country’s first sensitive and short self-life agro-commodity export permit. She stated it took eight years of negotiating to secure authorization on August 16, 2023.
“Kenya exports tea and coffee which have a much longer shelf than avocado fruit. It took a long time to get approval as we needed to meet the strict Indian quality standards when it lands here”, Oloo continued.
“This will help open up access to other various fruits, flowers, and vegetables”, Oloo added.
Oloo thought that the introduction of imports of Kenyan avocados would assist in reducing the two countries’ trade imbalance.
“Kenyan imports from India were valued at USD 1.76 billion in 2022, while Kenyan exports to India were valued at USD 67.21 million”, she informed.
Swadha Rizvi, Deputy Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry, was also present at the ceremony. Kenya is the world’s sixth largest avocado grower, with approximately 26,000 hectares under cultivation and an output target of 4,16,000 tonnes in 2021, more than doubling that of 2016.
Kenya exports approximately 23 percent of its avocados production to nations such as the Netherlands, the United States, China, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt among others.
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