• In 2021, Kenya horticulture industry recorded a growth of Sh157 billion.
• This year, the export earnings are projected to reduce to Sh130 billion.
Image: AGATHA NGOTHO
Harsh climate change effects have eaten into horticulture earnings in Kenya this year.
The country will this year record a decline of more than Sh20 billion.
Benjamin Tito, director for Horticulture Crops Directorate under the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development said export earnings are likely to fall by 20 percent this year.
He attributed the drop to climate change related challenges such as drought which has led to competition of irrigation water so the earnings will reduce.
He spoke during the opening of the Fruits and Vegetable conference and exhibition being held in Nairobi.
The meeting is organized by Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP) Kenya, a project funded by European Union and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with the Government and private sector.
Tito said the conference comes at a time when Kenya is severely affected by drought and this has affected the earnings that Kenya is getting from the exports.
“For the last two years since 2019, we have had a growth of Sh144 billion, in 2020, the earnings were at Sh150 billion. Last year, it rose further to Sh157 billion. But looking at how the situation is this year, then we are not likely to hit the Sh157 billion mark that we did last year,” he said.
Tito projected that this year, the total horticulture earnings will drop to Sh130 billion which is a decline of more than Sh20 billion representing 17 percent decline.
“This is partly because of the climate change issues. The drought that has severely affected the production areas where most of the produce is coming from,” he said.
This comes as world leaders are meeting for the Convention of Parties (COP) 27 in Egypt to discuss about mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change.
Image: AGATHA NGOTHO
“Horticulture farming is centered with the production of crops using a lot of water and being fresh fruits and vegetables. They require a lot of water and this is part of the reason why we are not likely to export as much as we did last year due to the underlying situation,” said Tito.
“The Government is doing a lot to mitigate this, but the starting point would be the provision of food which is happening. But looking further ahead, we need to look for ways in which we can be able to extract ground water to be used for production,” he said.
He said close to 90 percent of small scale farmers have a reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
Tito noted that doing rain fed is no longer sustainable because of the conflicts that the country is already having between irrigation and other uses for the same resources.
He said the horticulture industry is suffering from reduced levels of water as drought continues.
“We have witnessed reduction in volumes being shipped to various export destinations especially the EU market. This has happened as farm using irrigations systems are grappling with reduced volumes of water and thus not able to expand farming areas,” Tito added.
He said even though Kenya is the leading major exporter of fresh produce in EU and other world markets, the volumes have reduced significantly a trend that will continue affecting earnings.
Stefano Sedola, EU chief technical advisor for MARKUP Kenya said critical challenges along the horticulture supply chain have been identified.
These includes a lack of a risk based approach for food safety management, control and inspection systems along the entire value chain.
“A weak ‘farm to fork’ based traceability system, a sustained provision of clean planting materials to the farmers that are marketable. This has adversely impacted the production of high-quality, market-oriented produce,” said Sedola.
He said stakeholders across the entire supply chain should come up with lasting solutions to these challenges which will provide a platform for Kenya to realize its potential in the production and marketing of fruits, vegetables and herbs.
“For us to achieve this, we require concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the horticulture value chains including farmers, traders, entrepreneurs and researchers among others,” he said.