KANDARA/NAIROBI When I was younger Javason Mburu28, dreamed of becoming a doctor. Becoming a farmer in his father’s footsteps did not interest him.
However, he became a farmer, and now his fields grow Kenya’s “green gold”, avocados. There are 800 trees. Avocados growing in them are exported especially to Europe and the Middle East.
The farm is in Kandara, about 60 kilometers from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on the lands of the Mburu family.
Mburu motions towards a slightly unfinished house in the yard of the farm.
– Building a house like that requires a lot of money, he says.
– Most of the people I studied with still find it difficult. I am proud to be a farmer. I have a house they don’t have.
Mburu is also proud that he is able to employ people.
Mburu’s medical dreams ended when he did not do well enough in school. In the end, Mburu studied procurement skills, i.e. buying and selling.
Kenya climbed into the ranks of the largest exporting countries
Mburu started farming by growing maize, beans and coffee. Tenests remained small, even in the red, he says.
Then he figured out to switch to avocado. The father lent his son money to get him started.
Many others have also switched to avocados. It brings farmers better income than many other plants. And because avocado knows money, it is also called green gold.
The area used for avocado cultivation in Kenya more than tripled between 2015 and 2022, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO.
Kenya is suitable for growing avocados because of the temperatures.
– Another significant factor is that the avocado is suitable for high altitude areas with sufficient rainfall, explains Joseph K. Njuguna from the Kenyan agricultural research institute Karlo.
He manages Karlo’s horticulture department.
Avocados are grown in Kenya mainly in the highlands, approx 1,000 to 2,100 meters above sea level.
Most of the production comes from small farmers.
The graphic below shows how Kenya’s avocado exports have grown in recent years.
Last year, Kenya’s exports grew by nearly 19 percent, becoming the world’s third largest exporter of avocados, it has been revealed From FAO statistics.
The graphic below shows the world’s largest avocado exporters last year.
More than half of Kenya’s exports go to Europe. According to the FAO, Kenyan avocados have done well in the European market because of the price. Last year, the average export price of Kenyan avocados was about 27 percent lower than deliveries from Peru.
Kenyan avocados are also imported to Finland. Between January and August of this year, more than 120,000 kilos of avocados were imported from Kenya to Finland, according to the statistics of the Customs. It is only a couple of percent of the avocados imported to Finland.
Kenya’s imports to Finland vary drastically: Last year, less than 3,000 kilos of avocados were imported, in 2021 almost 280,000 kilos.
Water is not so much a problem, thieves are
At the end of October, raw, small avocados hang from Mburu’s avocado trees. Mburu estimates that they will be ready for picking in March, when the year’s main harvest begins to be harvested.
The second, smaller harvest of the year is usually in September–October.
Irrigation hoses run between the trees. Now they are not used because it is the rainy season. Most of the year, however, the trees need watering, Mburu estimates. The area is medium dry. There is a well on his property.
Avocado cultivation has been criticized for its water consumption. Last spring, water problems escalated in Mexico, the world’s largest exporter of avocados, when small farmers and residents visited tearing away irrigation equipment for avocado plantations in the state of Michoaca.
One Michoanian resident told the news agency for APthat there is not enough water for people to use in an area suffering from drought.
Joseph Njuguna from Karlo, a research institute, says that avocado cultivation has not been found to cause environmental problems in Kenya, and is not a cause for concern.
– The majority of production still relies on rainwater. So it cannot be said that it would disturb the ecosystem by using groundwater. Avocado is a very useful plant here, says Njuguna.
According to him, it is not common in Kenya for farmers to have a well for irrigation. Those practicing irrigation can collect rainwater in, for example, artificial dams.
Njuguna estimates that avocado cultivation does more good than harm to the environment in Kenya.
CEO of the avocado industry’s interest organization Ernest Muthomi says there are no water conflicts in Kenya. According to him, cultivation is sustainable.
A respected financial magazine The Economist wrote in the summer, that Kenya does well in the endurance comparison. According to the magazine, most farms use less than a hundred liters of water to grow a kilo of avocado, which is clearly below the global average.
One of the problems with avocado farming in Kenya is thieves. Mburu says he lost three tons of avocados to thieves last year. That’s a big amount, because he sold a total of 15 tons of avocados from his farm last year.
– It is a huge problem, and the government should do something about it, says Mburu.
Now he has to hire security guards to replace him because of the thieves.
According to Mburu, climate change is also a big problem. It makes harvest seasons less predictable.
Usually, the main harvest season starts in March, but according to Mburu, it can be delayed by a couple of months due to the effects of climate change. And if this happens, the price for avocados may not be as good as before.
Recently, the unrest in the Red Sea due to the war in Gaza has caused logistical problems for avocado exporters.
– Normally, we get avocados from here to the European market in 28 days, but now the transports take up to 50 days, says Ernest Muthomi, CEO of the Kenyan Avocado Industry Association.
More employees and a sales chain for yourself
The Mburu farm employs 10–15 people a day during the busiest times. A twin brother often helps Kennedy Mburu.
Farm production should increase every year, as the trees produce more fruit as they get older.
In the future, Javason Mburu wants to expand its space bigger and employ more people. According to him, there are many unemployed people in the area.
He also wants to teach people, mainly young people and women, how to grow avocados. And donate avocado seeds to the locals.
– That’s my plan. That I can employ as many people as possible and we can fight against bad unemployment, he says.
And that’s not all. In addition, Mburu wants to get rid of middlemen who now buy avocados and sell them on. He wants to take his avocados himself to the buyer in Europe.