Horticulture Latest News Flying out for Kenya : National carrier Kenya Airways collapsed passenger seats to airlift Kenya horticulture produce to Europe as industry players joined forces to secure markets at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic . Images courtesy of Kenya Airways
We were in the shelves when nobody else was, resulting in increased orders and attraction of new buyers – Okisegere Ojepat, Fresh Produce Consortium – Kenya
The horticulture industry in Kenya is optimistic of quick recovery as global space slowly opens after the Covid-19 disruption.
Export earnings hit KSh72 billion between January and May 2020, up from KSh65 billion for the same period last year, translating to an 11% increase. The good earnings are largely attributed to the country’s ability to ship out produce during the pandemic, serving a rising demand for food.
“Our export sector did Kenya proud”, says Trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina when speaking at the Kenya Export Strategy 2020 Webinar organized by the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency, Wednesday. “We expected the worst but our earnings are up, an indication of Kenya’s potential to protect its markets by ensuring products reached the markets in a challenging environment.
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency CEO Wilfred Marube says the sector brought out the best of the country’s resilience at beating the odds to keep the ‘produce of Kenya’ label in the global shelves, a sacrifice that has not only secured existing markets but also created new avenues for Kenya’s flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables.
It was a tough call for exporters especially in the flower sector who had to balance between maintaining a market presence, destroying beautiful flowers, sending workers home, keeping plants breathing and protecting their farms from the virus.
Market presence meant selling flowers, not to make money but to maintain a presence for Kenya, according to Trish Patel, head of marketing at PJ Dave, whose 80 per cent of orders were cancelled. “We continued shipping the little orders coming through to secure future markets for Kenya”, he said.
Oserian Development Company Administration Director Mary Kinyua says the farm exports fell from 1 million stems per day to about 350,000 throwing the company, like many others, into a financial strain. “The markets are opening up slowly and barring any other disruptions we should be back to full business by end of the year,” she said adding that it will however take longer to recover […]