TANZANIA – In a span of five years, avocado exports from Tanzania have gained traction with the country fetching US$12 million from 2019 exports attributed to the rise in volume from 1,877 tonnes in 2014 to 9,000 tonnes in 2019 according to data from, the Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha).
Taha’s chief development man-ager, Mr Anthony Chamanga, also revealed that farm-gate prices rose from Sh450 per kilogramme in 2014 to Sh1,500 in 2020.
According to a report by The Citizen Tanzania, the improved performance is attributed to the investments undertook by the Tanzanian government and the country’s private sector horticultural apex body, Taha.
One of the notable projects undertaken is the establish of state-of-the-art facility in Njombe where farmers can store their fresh produce and is also a hub to connect with buyers.
“Again, driven by dynamics in a global surge in prices and demand, the cultivation and trading of avocados is rapidly gaining traction among the local farmers, replacing coffee production in some areas,” the report says.
Taha data shows that over 10,000 farmers in the country are involved in avocado production, triggering its export surge by 380 percent in a span of five years.
Majority of the produce are exported to Europe as its consumption of avocados is one million tonnes a year with the World Avocado Organisation (WAO) predicting a growth rate of 50 percent of between 500,000 and 700,000 tonnes for Europe in the next ten years.
The EU market represented 85% of Tanzanian avocado exports in 2018, whereby France imported 3,133MT; the Netherlands: 2,304MT, and UK: 1,193MT.
Based on 2018 data, Tanzania is the second largest producer of avocado fruit in Africa after Kenya. The latter produces about 190,000 tonnes per year of which between 5,000 and 10,000tonnes are exported.
Other than the European market, Tanzania is eyeing the Chinese market which is bullish in terms of avocado demand.
Data from China Customs indicates that China’s avocado imports are valued at US$105 million per annum, presenting a huge potential market for Tanzanian growers.
Global production of avocados has increased by 178 per cent, rising from 891,000 tonnes in 2011 to 2.5 million tonnes in 2018 – mostly driven by high demand in the US and Europe.
According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global avocado market was valued at US$13.64 bn in 2018 and is predicted to attain an overall value of US$21.56 bn by 2026.
The market is projected to show a healthy CAGR of 5.9% every year during the forecast period of 2018-2026.
