Kenya’s Horticulture Trade Faces Fresh Push to Cut Logistics Costs and Open African Markets

Horticulture industry players, government officials and development partners will meet in Nairobi next week to tackle trade and logistics barriers that continue to raise the cost of moving fresh produce from farms to markets.

The two-day Regional Public-Private Dialogue on Horticultural Logistics and Trade Facilitation will take place on September 22 and 23, bringing together stakeholders from across Eastern Africa.

The meeting will also mark the official launch of the Horticulture Council of Eastern Africa (HoCEA), a private-sector-led regional platform created to strengthen coordination, advocacy and market access for the horticulture industry.

The council has been established through partnerships with national horticulture associations and with support from TradeMark Africa. It is expected to provide the sector with a unified platform for engaging governments and regional institutions on policies affecting trade.

Horticulture remains an important source of employment, foreign exchange and rural incomes across Eastern Africa. However, businesses continue to face logistical and regulatory obstacles that can make it expensive and difficult to move fresh produce from farms to consumers.

Dr Jacqueline Mkindi, HoCEA interim chair and chief executive of the Tanzania Horticultural Association, said high freight charges, inadequate cold-chain facilities and weak first-mile aggregation systems remain among the industry’s major challenges.

The sector also faces fragmented digital trade procedures, delays at ports and border points, as well as inconsistent sanitary and phytosanitary requirements and certification procedures.

“These inefficiencies affect the entire value chain,” Mkindi said, noting their impact on smallholder farmers, women, young people, small businesses and logistics providers.

For horticulture producers, delays can have significant consequences because many fresh products have short shelf lives. Weak cold-chain infrastructure and inefficient transport systems can also increase post-harvest losses and reduce returns to farmers and exporters.

The Nairobi dialogue will examine ways to improve trade logistics and cold-chain systems while exploring the use of digital platforms to make cross-border trade more efficient.

Participants will also discuss sanitary and phytosanitary measures, non-tariff barriers and implementation of market opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The focus on regional markets comes as African countries seek to increase intra-African trade and reduce dependence on distant export markets. Improved border procedures and more efficient trade corridors could give horticultural producers greater access to consumers across the continent.

The organisers expect the discussions to produce a Nairobi Communiqué outlining priority actions, responsible institutions and implementation timelines.

The launch of HoCEA is expected to add a regional voice to these efforts by bringing private-sector associations together around common trade and logistics concerns.

For Eastern Africa’s horticulture industry, the discussions will come at a time when competitiveness increasingly depends not only on what farmers produce, but also on how efficiently that produce reaches buyers.