Tag: Horticulture

Lucrative citrus industry in South Africa calls for increased efficiency on back of expected rising exports

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SOUTH AFRICA – The South African citrus industry expects to break all export season records, with an estimated 158.7 million cartons this year. If this estimate was reached, it would represent a third consecutive season of record export volumes, with 130 million cartons exported in 2019 and 146 million cartons last year. This is according to projections by the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA), indicating a 22 percent growth in exports in just two years. Medium-term crop estimates indicate that the citrus industry is expected to continue increasing…

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Kenya’s county government mitigates post-harvest losses with launch of fruit processing plant

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KENYA – Kitui County in Eastern Kenya has kick-started operations at the newly build Ksh. 20 million (US$185,000) fruit processing plant located at the Kitui Agricultural Training Centre. The processing facility, with a production capacity of 5 tons per hour, is aimed to add value to fresh produces such as tomatoes and mangoes which are highly perishable, reports Kenya News Agency. While commissioning the factory, Kitui County Governor Charity Ngilu, indicated that the huge losses the farmers in the region have been encountering over the years, will be a thing…

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Kenya’s horticulture sector registers decline in export earnings despite rise in volume

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KENYA – Kenya’s horticulture sector exhibited exemplary performance in the first half of the year in terms of volumes, but value dropped by Kshs. 6.3 billion (US$58.3m) due to suppressed prices at the international market. Volume of fruits, vegetable and flowers between January and June 2021, stood at 191,210,134 kgs, a rise from 160,931,659 kilogrammes traded in the previous corresponding period, earning Ksh77.2 billion (US$714m) from Ksh83.5 billion (US$773m) in 2020. The volume increased by 30,278,475 Kg, according to the Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD), mainly from fruits and vegetables. During…

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South Africa enters lucrative Chinese lemon market expanding bullish citrus sector

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa has signed a new protocol agreement with China which opens the door for South African lemon exports to the Asian market. The deal follows a request submitted by South Africa to exempt lemons from the current regulatory requirements for false codling moth (FCM) in light of the category not being a host for the pest. According to report by IOL, the revised citrus protocol was six years in the making and is forecasted to add another R325m (US$22m) in new export revenue to the South…

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Ghanaian horticulture exporter Maphlix Trust receives financing from Impact investor AV Ventures

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GHANA – Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited, a leading producer and exporter of fresh vegetables, roots, tubers, and fruits in Ghana, has clinched a US$700,000 long-term loan from ACDI/VOCA’s financing arm AV Ventures. ACDI/VOCA is U.S. Government’s implementing partner and responds to non-USG official development assistance (ODA) and host country government opportunities, to foster broad-based economic growth, raise living standards, and create vibrant communities. The financing will enable Maphlix acquire new farming equipment that will mechanize production activities, as part of efforts to modernize production for enhanced operational efficiencies. It will…

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South Africa bags US$15m Philippines’ citrus market, targets to be main exporter

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa is set to access the lucrative Philippines citrus fruit market, following the conclusion of negotiations that stretched over 12 years, further expanding the bullish South African citrus industry. The work plan to export South African citrus to the Philippines was signed between the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry at the end of 2020. Marking the historic occasion, a delegation from the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) visited the Port of Durban earlier this…

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The Netherlands co-finances construction of agro-logistics center in Angola with US$73m

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ANGOLA – Angola has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dutch government, on co-financing the implementation of an agro-logistics center in the province of Benguela. The construction of the logistics center, which will store, pack, transform and package agricultural products, targeted for the European market, will be co-financed by The Netherlands and Angola. To this end, the Dutch government will provide a credit line of up to 60 million euros (US$73m) to be channelled towards the establishment of the facility, serving the Port of Lobito. The agreement establishes…

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Kenya’s horticulture sector gets US$6m from EU to boost sanitary and phytosanitary standards of fresh produce

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KENYA – The European Union (EU) has granted Kenya €5 million (US$6 million) to support its horticultural sector achieve sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) as required by the export markets. Under a four-year plan dubbed New Export Trade (NExT), EU aims at increasing the contribution of the horticultural sector to household income. Deputy Head of Delegation, EU to Kenya, Katrin Hagemann, said this will be achieved through the generation of employment opportunities and foreign currency. She said to improve food security safety and nutrition there is need to increase the…

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South Africa’s deciduous fruit sector taps lucrative export market following bumper harvest

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SOUTH AFRICA – The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has announced it has reached a total intake for the 2020/2021 season of 73 million cartons, a rise from the previous year’s 66.15 million cartons. Three of the five table grape production regions are in the Western Cape with the province’s Department of Agriculture’s Senior Economist Andrew Partridge highlighting that several factors supported the increase. “This has been the result of good weather conditions in most regions of the Western Cape during the packing season and is attributable to substantial…

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Morocco records rise in fruits, vegetable exports to UK by 51% in January post Brexit

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MOROCCO – Moroccan exports of fruit and vegetables to the United Kingdom have grown exponentially, following the Union’s withdrawal from the EU on December 31, 2020. Ever since the result of the Brexit referendum, the UK government has been looking to expand its diplomatic and economic relationships. One facet of this has materialized through the UK’s imports of fruit and vegetables, as it looks to decrease its reliance on EU member states. As part of the UK’s renewed efforts to consolidate new partnerships following Brexit, Poole Harbour Commissioners announced a…

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