Joyce Kamau is an avocado farmer from Murang’a County who mostly sells her produce to the Chinese market.
In an interview with China Daily, the farmer noted that accessing the lucrative Chinese market has improved her income by far.
But just how much does Joyce make from avocados? Here is her story as told by WoK.
Joyce ventured into avocado farming in 2018, two and a half years before the trees reached full maturity.
She made her first harvest in 2020 although she was forced to sell locally as she could not access the international market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By selling locally, Joyce could make Ksh 18 per kilo compared to Ksh 24 per kilo from local exporting companies working with the Avocado Society of Kenya.
However, the farmer started making more money when she started exporting her fruits to China following the Kenya – China phytosanitary standards deal.
With the high demand of avocados in China, Joyce could make as high as Ksh 38 per kilo by selling to exporting companies.
The deal meant good business for Joyce who saw her yearly income from avocados increase by a whooping KSh 600,000.
“As a farmer, I do not individually export my avocados to China, but I have supplied exporters who sell to the Chinese market
“With the new market prices, I can make up to Ksh 1.8 million in a year, up from the Ksh 1.2 million I was previously making,” she said.
China – Kenya agreement
The The deal to export avocado to China was agreed in April 2019 between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chinese President counterpart Xi Jinping.
The Chinese government allowed Kenya to export fresh avocado after four years of lobbying, reversing an initial requirement that only allowed frozen produce.
Following the deal, Kenya’s exports of avocado to China hit Ksh 7 billion from 1.7 million kilograms of avocados exported to China in three months.
