Kenya is among five countries in the region that have the backing of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to cut post-harvest losses in the horticulture sector.
This is under the COMESA- EAC Horticultural Accelerator (CEHA) programme targets to improve production and distribution, access to quality seeds, training, establish standards and traceability, and strengthen post-harvest management while improving gains in the value chain.
While overall post-harvest losses in Kenya’s agriculture sector are estimated at between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, the horticulture sub-sector records losses of up to 60 per cent, according to the regional body.
The five-year programme targeted at Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia is keen to cut the losses in horticulture to 40 per cent, or lower.
COMESA Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) Mohamed Kadah said CEHA has a bottom-up structure where strategic priorities are identified by national-level stakeholders, mainly the horticulture private sector, to drive the priorities at a regional level.
“It facilitates the modernisation of regional horticulture value chains across East Africa, leveraging the comparative advantage, infrastructure, and technology in each country,” Kadah said.
It targets potatoes, avocados and onion farming with Kenya being the first country COMESA has launched the drive, with a goal of achieving a trade value of $25 million (Sh3.3 billion) for fruits and vegetables within the Comesa-EAC region by 2031.
Estimates indicate avocados; onions and Irish potatoes can generate a combined $230 million (Sh29.9 billion) annually for approximately 450,000 smallholder farmers of a minimum farm size of 0.4 hectare with 60 avocado trees, or 1 hectare for onion farmers.
The COMESA initiative aims to propel global exports from $416 million (Sh54.1 billion) to an impressive $ 950 million (Sh123.5 billion) over the next seven years.
“We need to address elements of post-harvest losses through technologies that are there. Be it storage, transport and other stages to ensure that we curb losses and gain more,” said Apollo Owuor, CEHA regional coordinator, Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA).
The region also needs to bring onions and potatoes on board traceability, which is a key component in the market, he added.
“We have a huge opportunity to tap a bigger market locally, regionally and globally but we need to improve production for example potatoes by 20 per cent annually, and onions production,” Owuor said during the launch of the CEHA programme in Nairobi.
According to Kenya’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), the country produces a paltry 26 per cent of the onions consumed in the market, with 74 per cent of imported mainly from Tanzania.
The little that is locally produced is also of low quality according to the authority, amid post-harvest losses, poor management and storage, low quality seeds and onion diseases.
The country on the other hand export 80 per cent of avocado produces to the global market, thanks to improved quality and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, one of the key factors dictating safety considerations and market access for agricultural commodities.
The government is also keen to enhance traceability in Irish potatoes with plans to expand production to 26 counties from the current 13, a move that is expected to help cut imports where 50 per cent of potatoes in the processing sector are imported.
“We are addressing conformity of these commodities, improving quality if seeds and expanding export markets and linkages,” Deputy Director Technical Advisory Services at AFA, Anthony Rutto, said.
The government targets to grow agricultural exports as part of plans to increase foreign exchange earnings and cut the country’s import bill, according to Trade PS Alfred K’Ombudo.
They account for 35 per cent of the country’s total exports led by tea, coffee, avocados, and cut flowers among others.