- The Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania has issued a statement informing that India has agreed to open its market for Tanzanian avocados for the first time.
- The Ministry acknowledged the vital role played by specialists in the Plant Health sector, the private sector and avocado growers in the country for facilitating access to the vast Indian market.
- It also thanked World Food Organisation (FAO) for supporting the cause.
The Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania has issued a statement informing that India has agreed to open its market for Tanzanian avocados for the first time. The Ministry acknowledged the vital role played by specialists in the Plant Health sector, the private sector and avocado growers in the country for facilitating access to the vast Indian market. It also thanked World Food Organisation (FAO) for supporting the cause.
Tanzanian Avocados are increasingly becoming popular in overseas markets. The South African government also recently gave clearance to the Tanzanian avocados to access its relatively huge market. The country is also eyeing a bigger share of the $133 million Chinese avocados market.
Tanzania has a huge potential for exports of its high-quality avocado considered as green gold. The exports recorded last year were 9,000 tonnes valued at $30 million up from almost zero seven years ago. Though some 39,000 tonnes of the fruit are produced locally only between 8,500 and 9,000 tonnes were exported last year. Tanzanian Avacados are currently exported to the Netherlands and other European countries, South Africa, Kenya, Dubai and other Gulf states. Currently, Tanzania is ranked the second country after Kenya in Africa in avocado production.
Tanzania is in the process of establishing Avocado clusters, bringing together several farmers, in order to enable them to produce enough volume for the growing global export market. In Feb 2021, the first avocado cluster for farmers in the northern zone regions was launched to promote local production and exports of Avocado. The goal of the facility is to assist farmers in training, input and seedlings supplies, as well as access to new processing technologies and markets.
