Europe Edition
Ukraine is slowly increasing its presence in the burgeoning fresh apple market of Sub-Saharan Africa. “In the 2020/21 season, Ukraine increased its apple exports to Sub-Saharan Africa six times and the export volume amounted to record 630 tons. Although this is less than 4% of total apple exports, the trend is good news,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
“It should also be noted that Ukrainian apples were supplied to only two countries of this region in the 2020/21 season, but last season the export geography included nine countries. This means that apples from Ukraine are becoming increasingly popular in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. There is an emerging trend for apples from Ukraine among fruit importers in Africa, and their level of interest is growing. Our colleagues from the Ukrainian Horticultural Association confirm that there are more and more requests for the supply of apples from the countries of this region,” Yarmak states.
Ukraine already exported apples to two African countries in the first export month of the 2021/22 season. Before that, the exports of apples to Africa had never started in September. On the other hand, interest in exporting apples to Africa may significantly decrease after sharply increased purchases of Ukrainian apples by Belarus.
Source: east-fruit.com
