Export prices of avocado have risen to Sh800 (€6.08) per four-kilogramme pack in November. Data from the Horticulture Directorate shows that the November prices represented a 33.33 per cent year-on-year jump. Avocado has been a major contributor to the income from the horticulture earnings, raking in nearly half of the total returns from fruits. Kenya’s avocado exports jumped 15 per cent to 68,000 tonnes over the 12 months to October, fetching Sh14 billion. Kenya, which is ranked eight globally in avocado production, netted Sh10 billion from 59,000 tonnes of the fruit exported over a similar period of last year.
The main crop season for the three major avocado varieties — Jumbo, Hass and Fuerte --traditionally closes in the fourth quarter of the year. Some two weeks fortnight ago, the horticulture regulator banned the export of the popular Hass and Fuerte avocado varieties to curb the harvesting of the immature crop. The ban follows rampant cases of traders picking young crops, encouraged by high prices of the commodity.