Perishables fair better than others

Horticulture farming is the fastest growing sub-sector in agriculture. It attracts high revenue into the country.

Horticulture refers to an intensive cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers, mainly for the export market.

The main flower varieties exported from Kenya include Roses, Carnations, Statice, Alstroemeria, and various species of summer flowers.

Under the vegetables category, French beans, snow and snap peas and a few types of Asian vegetables dominate the export list. Mangoes, avocadoes and the passion fruit are the most important export fruits.

Horticulture is among the few sub-sectors of the economy that continues to grow in the background of declining performance of other areas, such as tourism and general agriculture.

During the British colonial rule, the white settlers brought in fruits and flowers never grown in Kenya before. Missionaries too brought in varieties of fruit trees and vegetable seeds not known in the country before.

Throughout this period, the horticultural products were only planted for domestic purposes. There was no commercial dimension.

 When the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway line began in 1893, the Indians working on it also carried with them some fruits and vegetables, which they planted for their use.

The export of fresh horticultural produce from Kenya dates back to the period before independence though, when Kenya, then a British colony, was required to contribute to the running of the budget for East Africa.

In the early 1960s, horticultural development was devoid of research, as more focus was given to cereals, commodity crops and livestock.

Extension services and marketing were lacking in the sub-sector, as the government focused mainly on commodity crops and livestock.

This left the horticulture sub-sector at the mercy of the private sector.

After independence the industry continued to flourish with exports starting to go to Europe, and thus opening up the potential for Kenya in the export market.

In the early years of independence, horticultural exports remained minimal. In 1968, Kenya exported 1,476 metric tonnes.

The export sub-sector has grown since then to over 121,000 tonnes valued at Sh26 billion. This enormous growth has been largely through private sector investments.

In the light of the government’s early recognition of the potential role that the horticulture industry could play in the country’s economy, the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) legal provision was entrenched under the Agricultural Act Cap 318 of 1967.

This was done through a subsidiary legislation to promote and develop production and marketing of horticultural produce.

The horticulture sub-sector has grown since 2000 to become a major foreign exchange earner, employer and contributor to food needs in the country.

Currently, the horticulture industry is the fastest growing agricultural sub-sector. It is ranked third in terms of foreign exchange after tourism and tea.

Fruits, vegetables and cut flower production is the main aspect of horticultural production in Kenya. The sub-sector is diverse in terms of farm sizes, variety of produce and geographical area of production.

Kenya’s ideal tropical and temperate climatic conditions make it favourable for horticulture production and development.

Horticultural crops production is divided into three: Horticulture, which deals vegetables; pomology, which deals with apples, oranges, blue berries and strawberries, and floriculture, which is about planting  cut flowers that are sold to earn the country revenue.

The three types of horticulture bring in a lot of revenue. Currently, the sub-sector is ranked as one of the economy’s fasted growing. It currently makes up over 60 per cent of the fresh export revenue.

Top on the list of fresh horticultural crops exported annually are cut-flowers, vegetables, and fruits, such as pineapples, mangoes, tomatoes, paw paw, and passion fruits. French beans and runner beans are also exported in huge quantities.

“The horticultural industry remains a leading success story in Kenya,” declares the 2012 national policy document on horticulture. It is... a source of livelihood to the majority of rural people who practice one form of horticulture or another,’’ the document states.

About two million people are employed in the sub-sector, most of them small-scale growers. This group makes up 80 per cent of producers.  This provides reasonable income to small-scale farmers.

Besides helping raise raw materials for many and the burgeoning horticultural industries, this sub-sector is among the leading employers in the country, according to the plan.

More than seven million people work in the industry – deriving the employment either directly or indirectly. Those engaged directly work in the daily farm tasks, harvesting, packing, pest control, etc. while those employed indirectly are involved in sales, transportation and branding processes.

Horticulture has been experiencing a steady 15-20 per cent annual growth over the last five years. In 2012, for instance, it recorded a growth of about 39 per cent, seeing it earn the country in excess of $3.2 billion.

The national policy states that the horticulture industry exports depend heavily on the European markets.

With advanced technology the sub-sector has grown significantly to become a major employer and source of government revenue.

Over the last two decades the sub-sector has attracted a lot of interest from a wide range of stakeholders.

The need to strengthen the horticultural sector has created demand for well-trained and competent manpower, causing institutions of higher learning to start offering horticulture courses.

In May this year, the Syngenta Foundation for sustainable Agriculture introduced programmes that would seek to replace the tedious and cumbersome paper work that farmers who deal with green beans and peas export use, with new mobile phone-based agriculture software.

The new software will help over 50,000 horticulture farmers in the country. The mobile technology guides farmers in using the right seeds and chemicals.

The ready market for the products helps in the rapid development of the industry. This creates a great capital for investment companies, such as Del Monte in Thika, the  Pan African Food Company and the Danish Chrysanthemum Company, which manages vegetable and flower farming for export to Europe and the Middle East.

Horticultural farmers operate under well-organised marketing systems managed by Horticultural Cooperative Union and HCDA, which helps them to export their products.

In Many of the areas where horticulture is practised, the farmers  have access to the market through road and air transport. The use of greenhouses by horticultural farmers has progressively contributed to high rates of production.