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Kenya is negotiating with the United States of America, South Korea, Japan, India and Mauritius on market access to avocados.

These markets will be in addition to European and Middle-East markets that are currently major destinations for Kenya’s produce. Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) managing director Theophilus Mutui confirmed that the countries have shared lists of concerns they want Kenya to address before the fruits are shipped out.

“We are studying the conditions shared by the countries and will revert back… Some of the issues the new markets are interested in include the presence of pests, whether the farms are fumigated and emerging diseases,” said Prof. Mutui in a phone interview.

He said that UAE has fewer conditions and is the easiest to export. Top ten producers Kenya is among the top ten producers of avocado in the world and currently, farmers in the country have diversified into avocado farming in the last decade owing to the premium prices the fruits are attracting locally and in overseas markets. In the recent past nontraditional counties, for example, Trans Nzoia, Bungoma and Uasin Gishu have embraced the crop.

Small-scale avocado farmers must fulfil these conditions from importing nations. George Momanyi, a phytosanitary officer at Kephis said the demand for avocados in the global market has increased in the recent past and thus prompting importing countries to demand pest-infested free fruits into their markets.

“However, exports to Europe have not been subjected to strict conditions like it is happening in other emerging markets like China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa and India,” said Momanyi.