Kenya Retains its Position as the Largest Avocado Exporter in Africa

Fresh Avocado

Kenya

Market & Price Trends

Published Dec 15, 2021

Kenya has retained its position as the largest avocado exporting country from Africa for over one decade now. In 2020, it was the 10th largest exporter of avocados in the world with exports worth USD 116.23 million. Despite growing exports, the production volume is a lot more than its export volumes. There is a large potential for the country to expand its exports and tap new markets through higher-quality fruit and efficient logistics. In order to penetrate new destination countries, Kenya should focus on improving the quality of the avocados to make it competitive with other avocado exporting countries.

The avocado industry represents nearly 17% of the total horticulture in Kenya, meaning that it is a champion product that leads Kenyan agriculture exports. Recently, Kenya’s avocado production and exports have picked up pace in the last decade and have put the country on the global map of avocado exports. In 2020, Kenya was the 10th largest avocado exporter in the global avocado industry, and exported avocados worth USD 116.23 million. The country's agro-climatic and soil conditions allow it to export the Hass avocado variety at a large scale.

As of November 2021, Kenya is topping Africa's avocado exports but has exported only 10% of its total avocado production. Even though the country is producing a large volume of avocados, it is exporting a very small share of its total production and has the potential to expand its exports. Kenya’s exports have been anywhere between 30% - 20% of its production volumes but the figure has fallen down more this year. Even though the export volumes are growing at a very fast rate, Kenya is not able to export up to its potential due to an inefficient supply chain, product quality, and rising international competition.

Source: FAOSTAT and Trade Map.

In the last 10 years, Kenya’s exports have been mainly to the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, France, Spain, and the Russian Federation. It was not until 2017 that Kenya started venturing into new markets and the share of countries other than the ones listed also grew. Countries like the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Germany also made it to Kenya’s avocado exports with a substantial share.

Source: TradeMap. HS Code: 080440 Fresh or dried avocados.

Kenya’s avocado production area and exports are growing quickly, but there is scope for improvement along the complete supply chain to increase the volume of exports and tap new markets. The focus should be made on the transformation of Kenya’s avocado industry toward efficient logistics. Most importantly, to increase its presence in the international market, the quality of the avocados should be on par with other competing avocado sources.