Kenyan Horticultural Sector Experiences Boom

The Kenyan horticultural exports have hit the 100 billion shillings mark according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

Data from KNBS revealed that growth in volumes and a weaker shilling combined to deliver the positive export results despite uncertainty over future access to Europe making these products join the likes of Tea, tourism and Diaspora remittances.

This came about after dollars brought in by vegetable, flower and fruit exports rose 12 percent over last year’s earnings to hit 101.51billion shillings by lend of December.

The Managing director of Primarosa flowers said that the overall production was high and good number of flowers were available in the market where prices were higher compared to last year,”

Kenya exported a total of 133,658.3 tonnes of cut flower, earning 70.8 billion shillings or 70 percent of the 2016 horticultural earnings. The volume of cut flower sold over the period was 8.8 percent higher than the 122,825.3 tonnes exported the previous year.

“We haven’t quite synchronized the international statistics with our own numbers, but generally, there was scarcity of flower in the international market last year,” said Mrs.Jane Ngige, chief executive of the Kenya Flower Council.

“Prices were good and as a result, we increased our volumes to meet the demand in the international market.”

The KNBS data further revealed that vegetables fetched a total of 23.4 billion shillings, which was a  2 percent increase over the 2015 sales level after export volumes increased by 10,000 units to 78,791 tonnes over the period.

The shilling traded in a range of between 100.7 and 102.3 to the dollar last year compared to 90.7 and 103.4 in 2015.

Apart from tourism which has been pulled down by recent insecurity cases, the rest of top foreign exchange earners are looking up with tea having fetched 124.5 billion shillings last year and diaspora remittances fast edging towards the 200 billion shillings
Related: The Status of Wheat Industry in Kenya